


The Girl In The Iceberg

by TariSilmarwen



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Canon Rewrite, F/M, Genderbending, Genderswap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-19 10:10:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 28,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22109233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TariSilmarwen/pseuds/TariSilmarwen
Summary: She was untrained and hesitant, but she was going to save the world. And he would be there to protect her.Genderbend AU with a heavy focus on Kataang.
Relationships: Aang & Sokka (Avatar), Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar), Katara & Sokka (Avatar)
Comments: 38
Kudos: 76





	1. Book One: Water - Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> A few notes, before we begin:
> 
> 1\. Only the kids have been genderbent, the adults are the same. Certain plot points were just not quite as workable in a fully genderbent universe.
> 
> 2\. Most chapters will cover canon material, but I'm not going to strictly limit myself to canon. So this isn't going to be a full word-for-word rewrite of the show just with genders swapped. I want the freedom to go down different rabbit trails.
> 
> 3\. Even with canon scenes, not everything is going to be 100% a transcript of the original show. Sometimes I'll stick pretty close (like with this chapter), but sometimes I won't.
> 
> 4\. If there's a particular scene or scenario you want to see, feel free to request it.
> 
> With all that out of the way, let's get to it!

The frigid air nipped at their skin as the boat drifted with the current. His sister sat up in the prow, bone spear poised over the water, staring intently at the little flashes of silver just underneath the surface.

"It is _not_ getting away from me," she muttered under her breath.

Katar sighed at her seriousness, leaning out a bit over the side. The fish were skittering around by the back of the canoe as well. Katar peeked back briefly at Sokki, but she was focused on her task. Nervous flutters pinged through him as he slipped one hand out from its thick fur mitten and extended it over the water.

There was a pull, a gentle tug, and then a wet pop as a small bubble of water, with a gleaming silver fish encased inside and swimming happily, burst from the surface.

Katar's heart leapt excitedly and he gave a whoop, both hands flailing, swirling around to try and keep the bubble together as he raised it above the boat.

"Sokki! Sokki I caught one!" he called. He turned with a grin to show her. "Look! I caught—"

Distracted, he didn't keep careful track of the bubble's path. As Sokki raised her spear to throw it, the end punctured the bubble's surface tension, dropping the contents onto her head. Katar heard her shrill gasp from behind him and by the time he'd finished swiveling towards the prow the fish and water bubble were gone and there was just Sokki, glaring at him with her hair dripping and her collar soaked.

"Oops," he said sheepishly.

Sokki shook out her arms, flinging droplets. "Why is it that every time _you_ play with magic water, _I_ get soaked?" she complained, setting her spear down and wringing out her hair.

"It's not _magic_ it's _waterbending_ ," Katar corrected irritably. "And it's—"

"Yeah, yeah," Sokki cut off, "an ancient art unique to our culture blah blah blah." She rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm just saying that if I had weird powers I'd _keep_ my weirdness," she emphasized, "to myself."

"You're calling _me_ weird?" Katar said incredulously. He leaned back in the canoe, crossing his arms. "I'm not the one who makes muscles at myself every time I see my reflection in the water."

Sokki had been leaning over the water, her sleeve pulled up, doing just that. She froze, flushing at having been caught doing something so unfeminine, and hastily yanked down her sleeve, rolling up and thwacking her brother's arm with her fist.

The canoe teetered with the motion, then all of a sudden seemed to bump against something in the water.

_Thump!_

The water tribe siblings grunted as they were jostled, then found themselves streaking along rapidly, caught in a fast current and no longer gently drifting.

The peaceful arctic ocean was now a deadly maze of ice.

Sokki grabbed up her oar, digging hard into the water to try to push them out of it. The canoe thumped and grinded against sharp ice floes they barely managed to dodge. Several appeared directly in their path and Sokki jabbed the water forcefully to avoid it and send the boat to the right, only to find more obstacles dead ahead.

Pulse beating nervously, Katar grabbed both sides of the boat and leaned over his sister's shoulder. "Go left!" he yelled. "Left!"

If she attempted to steer in that direction, he didn't see or feel it. The canoe hit the ice floe head on. Pushed by the strong current, the prow dipped under the water's surface and disappeared.

The rest of the canoe followed seconds later, taking on water as it capsized, spilling the siblings out onto another floe.

Katar hit the ice and slid, almost all the way to the far edge. He held in his breath and dug in his mittened hands as he stopped, just short, of an unpleasant dunk into the icy water. The tension in his body held for a moment, then relaxed as he slowly pushed back from the edge.

He sat up with a sour look at his sister. "You call that left?" he said.

She rolled herself upright, annoyed. "Oh, you don't like my steering? Well maybe you should have..." She made sloshing gestures with her hands. " _...waterbended_ us out of the ice."

Katar fumed. She _knew_ he hated it when she mocked his lack of skill at bending. "Water-impotence" she sometimes called it.

"So it's _my_ fault?" he sputtered.

Sokki reached for her spear, the only thing that hadn't sunk with the boat. She was already dreading the long, treacherous journey home, empty-handed it looked like at this point, unless she could somehow manage to spear a fish or two along the way. The empty feeling gnawing at the pit of her stomach mingled with the quiet dread of explaining the lost canoe to their grandmother and the fatigue from the already too-long day. Maybe it wasn't fair to take it all out on her brother but she had already been in a bad mood before his little water bubble trick so she really, really didn't care.

"I _knew_ I should've left you at home," she grumbled. "Leave it to a _boy_ to screw things up!" She jabbed the tip of her spear into the floe in disgust. "Ugh! You guys are so _useless!_ "

Katar felt himself reach the boiling point. Sokki had been snappish with him all day and he'd had enough of it. He stood up, fists clenched by his sides, quaking with indignation. "You," he snapped at Sokki hotly, "are the most _man-hating_ , _immature_ , _nut-brained_ —" As he ranted his arms swung back angrily, sending the water spraying behind him in sharp bursts. "Ugh! I'm embarrassed to be related to you!"

A column of water hurled by Katar's ranting hit the base of a large iceberg behind them.

It gave a loud _CRACK!_ as it fractured, a huge fissure splintering up the left side.

Sokki had been ignoring her brother's outburst, but upon hearing the crack, looked up, startled, and gaped at the huge gash in the mountain of ice.

Her eyes widened in alarm.

Katar didn't notice, continuing to air his grievances. His words spilled out like he was an over-full sand sack that had just been punctured. "Ever since mom died, _I've_ been the one doing all the work around camp while _you've_ been off playing soldier," he vented, pointing at himself. "Pretending to be a warrior!" he spat.

The crack in the iceberg widened.

Sokki raised a timid hand. "Uh... Katar?" she squeaked, pointing fearfully.

"I do all the cooking, all the cleaning, I patch up all the nets—" Katar listed, smacking his right fingers into his left palm one by one for emphasis. "I even wash all the clothes!" His face soured at the reminder and his nose wrinkled, remembering something unpleasant. "Have you ever smelled your dirty socks?" he challenged her.

His fists clenched again.

" _Not_ —" he snarled, "—pleasant!"

His agitated gestures were once again accompanied by an ominous crack splitting through the iceberg behind him.

Sokki sat up on her knees, frantically holding up her palms to placate him. "Katar, calm down!" she cried, watching the splintering ice in abject terror.

"No!" Katar shouted, still angry. "That's it! I'm _done_ helping you! From now on, you're on your _own!_ "

The words were punctuated by a final blast of water that shot back to collide with the iceberg.

There was a rending and glass-like shattering as hairline fractures spread through the entirety of the giant chunk of ice.

His sister's expression paled and Katar finally turned around and saw what she saw: a mountain of ice breaking apart and threatening to come down on top of them. He gasped and took a step back but it was already too late. The hairline fractures were coming apart, splitting open and dropping chunks of ice into the water.

With a final crackling the iceberg crumbled, toppling, displacing the water and sending a huge wave towards them.

Katar and Sokki both flattened, grabbing onto the edge of the floe, Sokki throwing an arm across his back to help him stay on as they were nearly upended by the wave. Katar felt his heart stop and worried for a moment they were going to flip over, and join their sunken canoe.

But the wave subsided, after pushing them quite a distance, and the floe slid back to a level position and bobbed up and down dizzyingly.

It took a few moments more for his breathing to steady.

Sokki was the first to find her voice again.

"Okay, you've gone from weird to _freakish_ , Katar," she complained, uncurling from his side like he might be contagious.

Katar gaped at the conspicuous gap where the iceberg had been, at the choppy waves still subsiding. "You mean... _I_ did that?" he said. _All of that?_ he thought, astounded. _That iceberg was like thirty feet high!_

"Yep," Sokki confirmed. She sounded oddly... proud of him. "Congratulations," she teased, nudging him with her elbow and a giving him a smirk. "Guess you're not so impotent anymore, little bro."

He might have had a sour response to that but he didn't get the chance to dish it. A strange, bright blue glow had appeared in the water, just underneath them. Bubbles erupted from the surface, followed moments later by a large, florescent ball of ice.

The water it displaced shoved their floe back once again, and the siblings wobbled and tilted as they were rocked harshly by the waves.

They gasped up at the spherical ice chunk, bobbing up and down like some kind of giant fishing lure. It looked unnaturally formed, perfectly circular, and the eerie glow from within its center seemed to tingle in their hair, like the light itself was charged.

Slowly, Katar and Sokki got to their feet, mesmerized.

 _What **is** that? _Katar wondered. _How is it glowing?_

He took a few steps towards the edge of the floe, trying to get a closer look without actually getting close.

There was something within the iceberg, silhouetted by the light. A large hulking mass, with horns and a wide tail. And a second, smaller figure just below.

It looked like... but it couldn't be.

Was there a _person_ inside the ice?

Katar peered closer.

The figure certainly _looked_ human... Small, with gentle feminine edges. Curled up in a lotus position. A child?

He squinted, starting to make out the figure's features. It was a girl, long hair falling softly behind her back. She was as still as death at first, which is why it sent a jolt through Katar's heart when she suddenly opened up her eyes.

They glowed shockingly white, which should have frightened him, but all Katar could think in that moment was, _She'll suffocate in there!_

"She's alive!" he exclaimed. He reached back towards his sister, grabbing her arm and pulling her forward so he could draw the club strapped on her back from its sheath. "We have to help her!"

He had the club out and was hopping over the floes towards the iceberg before Sokki could blink or even register his actions. "Katar!" she yelled in frustration, turning only to extricate her spear from the ice. "Get back here!" she shouted, running after him. "We don't know what that thing is!"

Katar wasn't listening, already swinging his sister's club into the side of the glowing ice orb.

_Crack! Crack! Crack!_

A hollow thud rang out with every strike. Katar put more force into it, using all his might. He had to get her out!

On the fifth blow, the head of the club broke through the ice's surface.

_CRACK!_

There was a terrible hiss as air burst forth from the gap, tossing both Katar and Sokki back. The iceberg began to split up its center. When the cracks reached the top, the whole dome fell apart, throwing up a huge beam of blue light.

The beam shot up, dazzling, blinding, stabbing the sky as if it was a physical thing too long contained in the ball of ice, and Katar and Sokki felt the tingle of its power even more strongly.

It was such an odd sensation. Like hairs were standing up all over his body. Katar shielded his eyes until he felt the light subside. For a few more seconds it burned against his retinas, until his eyes adjusted and he could see clearly again.

Sokki had attached herself to his arm sometime during the blast. Her fingers were tight around his bicep but relaxed slightly as they shared a glance. The light around the iceberg was fading fast. The mountain was now a mound, with an open-top crater. Katar pushed up with his palms and stood, dragging Sokki up with him.

Her grip tightened on his arm and she raised her spear, pointing it towards the top edge of the crater.

The figure that had floated so still in the ice was moving, staggering upright, coming over the crater's edge. The stilted, awkward movement, along with her strange arrow-shaped tattoos—creepily glowing white like her eyes—made her look... frightening. Like some kind of angry spirit awakened from slumber. It made Katar begin to regret his decision to break the iceberg open.

Sokki brandished her spear as the figure stood upright, her other arm shoving into Katar's chest, trying to move him behind her.

"Stop!" she threatened, ready to throw her spear at the first sign of violence.

But all that happened was that the light disappeared from the girl's eyes and arrow-markings and she swooned, groaning softly as she pitched forward.

Katar's apprehension and fear vanished and he gasped, pushing past Sokki to catch the girl's small, fragile form before she hit the ground.

For being frozen in the ice, her body was surprisingly warm.

He held his breath, gently uncurling from around her.

Her eyes were closed; soft, fluttery lashes speckled with bits of snow. She was still slightly pale and blue from the ice, her skin chilly to the touch. She was tiny—couldn't have been much older than twelve or thirteen—and so very light. He was almost afraid of breaking her.

The blunt end of Sokki's spear came into view as she cautiously poked the strange girl in the head.

Once. Twice. A couple more times in rapid succession.

"Cut it out!" Katar snapped, throwing up his arm to ward her off. She wasn't _roadkill_ , for heaven's sake.

The girl in his arms gave a murmur, stirring. Katar turned back to her, anxious, very gently setting her down against the base of the crater.

Slowly, her eyes fluttered open. They were a pretty gray color, like stormclouds or the churning depths of the ocean. They widened and she gave a small gasp, looking up at him.

Katar felt some kind of warmth in his heart. No one had ever looked at him with such awe before. Like she was amazed to see him.

She spoke up, softly. "I need... to ask you something..." she whispered weakly.

"What?" Katar asked. She wasn't going to give him a last request and then die was she? That would just be awful.

Her next words did nothing to assuage his worries.

"Please... come closer..." she strained.

Cautiously he leaned down, offering a smile as he felt the strength of her breathing and how quickly she was already warming up. A little more reassured now, he asked her, "What is it?"

She was silent a moment. Then—

"Will you go penguin sledding with me?"

She lit up with a bright smile, eyes happy and hopeful, beaming at him.

Katar felt his heart give an unexpected dull thump and stutter, startled and caught off-guard. "Uh..." he stammered, feeling a slight burn in his cheeks and a weird queasy rolling in his stomach. "Sure? I—I guess?"

Was... she asking him on a _date?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The universe has been established, the plot has been set in motion, and Katar has met girl!Aang and started to feel some very odd sensations in his chest area about her. I hope you enjoyed, dear readers!


	2. Guardian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Moving a little bit ahead, skipping past most of the events of "The Boy In The Iceberg" and "The Avatar Returns" (though some scenes are flashbacked to), to be a little introspective with Katar.

Her name was Angka.

Not only was she an airbender—the first anyone had seen in a hundred years—but when the smoke belching iron Fire Nation ship cut a swath through the ice to their village, she had also revealed herself as the Avatar.

If he'd been a little awestruck about her before, he definitely was now.

 _The Avatar._ Sokki would always roll her eyes and groan whenever he'd wanted to talk about it.

"It's just a myth, Katar. If he _did_ exist he's probably long dead by now."

Sokki was right of course, it was irrational to keep hoping for some miracle savior out of legend, and some days it was hard even for him to keep believing. But he'd always held out hope that Avatar would return. Someday.

He'd been more than a little smug when he was proven right.

"So Sokki," he'd asked with a grin, right before they'd landed that morning, "is the Avatar a myth or isn't she?"

Exasperated, having been teased about it constantly since they'd left the Southern Water Tribe, Sokki just muttered, "You are never gonna let me live that down, are you?"

Katar's grin had cracked wider. "Nope!" he'd confirmed cheerfully.

"It's okay Sokki," Angka had encouraged, patting the girl's shoulder. "I wouldn't have believed in me either!" she'd chirped.

Sokki had grumbled something under her breath in reply and sulked right off to rinse her outer coat once they were back on the ground, refusing to speak to either of them ever since.

Katar peeked up at Angka, watching from across the camp as she played with her sky bison, Appa, untangling the snarls in his fur. She was so gentle with the animal, laughing and bumping her head against the bison's nose playfully.

Hard to believe just a couple days ago she'd been staring down an angry scarred Fire Nation commander and her squadron of troopers.

Katar had been shaking quietly in his boots the whole encounter, right from the moment Sokki had grabbed his wrist and pulled him into her guard tower.

"Come _on_ , Katar!" she'd urged. "We have to be ready!"

He'd gulped, gripping the hilt of the spear awkwardly. He hadn't held a weapon—not even a toy one—in ages. Not since their mother had died. He didn't have the hands for it, or the stomach, or the nerve. How could he? He'd felt like a clown in the warpaint and armor as they waited on the wall for the Fire Nation to arrive.

They'd had their asses handed to them. Of course they had. Young though she might have been, the girl captain was quicker, stronger, _ridiculously_ better-trained than either of them. Katar had been put down with one strike, Sokki's flailing over-eager swinging dodged easily.

"Pathetic," their opponent had hissed, standing over them with hands flaming, and for a moment Katar had been absolutely terrified.

But then a whirlwind had appeared, a streak of orange and yellow, and Angka slid into the fray on the back of a penguin—which seemed... so like her, really—spraying snow into the girl's scarred face, to exuberant cheers from the villagers.

She'd been completely fearless and calm, even as she'd willingly given herself up to save them.

Katar pulled himself from the memory, dropping his eyes and looking down at his hands.

She shouldn't have had to. He should have... should have done something. It had all worked out in the end but for that hour when he didn't know what had happened to her, whether the Fire Nation was taking her alive as a prisoner or summarily executing her at sea, he had felt and been so utterly _useless_ and once again it had to be Sokki to drag him out of it.

He felt ashamed. He should have protected her. Like he should have protected the village. Like he should have protected...

The sunlight gleamed off the blue shell pendant laying across his palm. Katar gazed at it, wondering idly when he'd pulled it out. His thumb brushed across the smooth surface.

"What's that?"

Katar jumped, startled, looking up and coming face to face with Angka, leaning over him with her waist bent and her hands tucked behind her back and her long hair.

"Uh, nothing," he stammered. "I mean, well..." He took a deep breath to sort his brain out. "It was my mother's," he admitted.

"It's really pretty," she complimented. Straightening up, her expression grew serious. "You said it _was_ hers... what happened to her? Or—" she quickly amended, seeing the look on Katar's face, "—would you rather not say?"

Katar folded the necklace in-between his hands soberly. "It's all right," he said, managing a weak smile. "She died when Sokki and I were little. The Fire Nation."

"Oh," said Angka softly. One foot curled around the other as sympathy shone from her face. "I'm sorry."

To change the subject, Katar glanced up and asked, "What about yours?"

"Oh, I don't really have parents," Angka said, looking embarrassed and rubbing behind her ear. "They often split us up by gender once we're weaned and we're raised by monks or nuns."

"Really?" Katar's face pinched, puzzled. He _had_ heard some stories about the Air Nomads living in temples but hadn't heard that most of them were raised there too. "Weren't there ever any kids with actual families?" he asked.

Angka stuck her arms out, walking an imaginary tightrope. "Yeah, a few," she told him. "Temple life wasn't always for everyone." She grinned. "We're actually pretty close to one right now, we should drop in for a visit." She hopped up on a boulder, reaching to scratch Appa's side. "I'll bet they'll be real surprised to see me!"

"Uh, I'm not sure that's such a good—" Katar started to say, then stopped himself, and backtracked. Angka was still slowly realizing the changed world she'd awakened to. In her mind, she'd just left home a week ago. How was he supposed to explain that no one had seen airbenders in eons and thought they were all dead? He didn't want to sink her hopes if he could help it. Besides, maybe there were still a few of them around, just really good at hiding. "Never mind."

"Great!" She beamed and then wafted herself up into Appa's saddle. "Once we're done resting we'll head straight there!"

"Sure. Okay," he agreed.

She busied herself playing with Appa again and Katar clenched his mother's necklace a little tighter.

He was such a coward. What good was he if he couldn't even bring himself tell her a little bad news? Did he even deserve to come with her to the North Pole? He couldn't fight and he wasn't even that good a bender.

_...Yet._

The optimistic little voice pinched through his self-depreciating thoughts. Sure, he might not be very skilled right now, but he'd cracked an iceberg in half hadn't he? And he hadn't even been trying.

It was in him. He knew it. He could feel it. All it needed was a focal point, something to push for, orient around.

His fingers loosened around the pendant as he brought it up to his eyes. Maybe he hadn't been strong enough then. But he'd get stronger. He'd learn to fight.

Because... she'd need him.

 _That's it_ , he decided, standing up from the log he'd been seated on. _I'll become stronger._

And this time, things would be different.

He tucked his mother's necklace away, stowing it in his pocket. He'd put it back on later.

Right now, he needed to find some water to practice on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sokki is So Done with everything, Angka reveals her Messiah side, we've briefly met girl!Zuko (or as she's known in this AU, Zuka) and learned a little bit about Air Nomad culture and Katar's Mommy Issues, and Katar has made an internal Declaration of Protection towards Angka.
> 
> We're on a roll dear readers! :D


	3. Last Survivor

"Where is everybody?" Angka wondered, as she wandered through the empty temple hall. Her footsteps echoed, her thin-soled shoes muted on the dusty tile. The silence was all but complete otherwise.

Any moment she expected to round the corner and run into one of the elder monks, or hear the distant laughter of the boys playing. But so far the only one they'd seen had been the cute lemur she'd decided was her new pet. (Assuming she got to it before Sokki did.)

Where were they all hiding?

She paused, putting a hand to her chin and thinking a moment, then snapping her fingers.

"I know!"

It was just a little after noon, right? That meant it was time for the midday meditation. They were probably all at the prayer field!

She rushed off, her feet light on the ground as she ran. They had really let the place go in her hundred-year absence, there was crumbling stonework and untended gardens everywhere.

She pushed aside a dusty cloth curtain, sneezing lightly. A bright grin found its way onto her face as she finally caught a glimpse of familiar orange fabric, and she was about to call out a greeting, the words on the tip of her tongue.

She stopped dead, the words faltering, dying before she spoke them.

Red, pointed armor and white bones littered the ground at her feet. The bodies of Fire Nation soldiers.

 _H...How...?_ came the dull thought inside her, as she stared, uncomprehendingly, at the scene of the massacre.

There were... so many...

Numbly, Angka raised her eyes towards the far end of the room. There was another body there, leaning up against the wall.

The body of an airbender.

Her knees felt weak but she was frozen to the spot, her eyes stinging.

Dead... He was dead. One of her people. Someone she'd probably known. Killed by the Fire Nation.

 _They_ were _here..._ she realized weakly.

"Got him!" came a distant shout from behind her. Angka didn't hear it over the rushing in her own ears.

She didn't turn around as Sokki entered, wrangling the lemur awkwardly as it scurried from one of her arms to the other.

"Slippery little guy, isn't he?" the Water Tribe girl quipped, grabbing the critter by the scruff with one hand as it ran across her shoulder. She looked up, and saw Angka standing still in the middle of the room, back turned towards her. Saying nothing.

Guiltily, she deposited the lemur into the crook of her elbow, holding it gently, her smile fading.

"Hey, you know I wasn't really gonna eat him, right?" she asked, as she came up to Angka. "I just said that to annoy..."

She trailed off, stopping next to Angka, seeing the dusty carnage.

"Oh... no..."

That... looked bad. A dozen or so Fire Nation corpses surrounded the skeleton of an airbender. There was no hiding it from her this time. Her brother's efforts to keep the truth from the little Air Nomad, however misguidedly noble, were over now.

...Was she okay?

Sokki looked to Angka, who was pale-looking, wavering slightly on her feet. She seemed in shock.

Her eyes were fixated on the body of the airbender, on the crest it wore. Memories were playing in her head, images of a warm, smiling face with a fuzzy white mustache, dark wrinkled skin that folded in soft ripples, a carefree chuckle, a gentle hand patting her head affectionately...

"It's... it's Monk Gyatso..." she whispered weakly. "I knew him... He was my friend... He was one of our strongest benders..."

She swayed heavily.

"If—if even _he's_ —"

Her voice hitched, a breathless sound that broke Sokki's cynical heart.

"Angka..." she said, with genuine sympathy and pity. "I... I'm so sorry."

She reached out her free hand towards Angka's shoulder.

Some warning tingle in the air had her drawing it sharply back.

Angka's tattoos were glowing.

Sokki gasped, dropping her arms, the lemur scurrying off somewhere as a rush of strong wind began swirling throughout the room. "What in the world?" she yelled, the force of the gale pushing her back.

Angka's back was stiff, her fists clenched, the light from her eyes and arrows blinding. Air swirled all around her, forming a tightly-wound ball of energy. Sokki found herself flung back, her face smashing on the ground as she bounced once, twice, grabbed hold of a piece of broken wall to hang onto.

The earth rumbled beneath Sokki's feet. Bits and pieces of the walls and roof flew past her head, a veritable tornado surrounding Angka, who floated silently in the center of the maelstrom, her face blank, tears streaming from her eyes. Sokki clung to her handhold with tight fingers, her hair whipping into her face.

Suddenly she felt her brother at her side.

"What happened?" Katar yelled in concern, shouting over the sound of the rushing wind.

"I don't know!" she cried, both hands clinging to the wall piece. "She just found out firebenders killed a friend of hers and started glowing!"

"It's her Avatar spirit!" Katar said, looking towards the floating girl with worried eyes. "She must've triggered it!"

Sokki wanted to groan. Of _course_ Katar knew _exactly_ what had happened, Avatar fanboy that he was.

He was already gone from her side, fighting against the winds and heading towards Angka.

"Where are you going, lunkhead?!" Sokki demanded after him.

"I'm gonna try to calm her down!" Katar said, not looking back.

Sokki ducked her head, her arms grabbing tighter to her handhold. "Well, make it fast! Before she blows us off the mountain!"

She _really_ hoped her brother knew what he was doing.

-ATLA-

There was a storm of air and energy crashing all around her, roaring in her ears, the faint sounds of yelling behind her, but Angka registered none of it. All she could feel was the hollow emptiness inside her, filled with pain.

Her glowing eyes stared out, unseeing. She couldn't feel her body. There was nothing in her thoughts, nothing at all except the horrible knowledge that what Katar and Sokki had been warning about must be true—that her people were all dead.

Faces passed in front of her eyes. Nun Choenyi, who had raised her like a daughter. Her friend Woten from the Northern Air Temple. Gyatso.

One by one, they seemed to vanish before her eyes, leaving only darkness.

Gone. All gone.

Every one of them.

The faces flashed faster and faster in her thoughts and her mind could only repeat, _Gone... gone... gone..._

The elders. Her playmates. The bison-keepers. Weird man Jiang who cleaned up the incense ashes with his pushbroom.

Everyone she knew.

Lost.

Her heart wrenched, tearing in two, and she wanted to curl up inside herself and never come out.

" _Angka!"_

From far away a voice seemed to call out to her. Angka stirred a little.

_Katar...?_

His face appeared in her mind, vivid. She saw him as she had when she first met him, awakening from a strange and lonely darkness, the sense of something missing, some great hole in her heart washing away as she opened her eyes to the most beautiful boy she'd ever seen.

Bright blue eyes. A face full of concern.

The same concern that shone in his voice now.

"Angka, I know you're upset," he was saying. "And I know how hard it is to lose the people you love." There was a pain in his words, a slight tremor to them. "I went through the same thing when I lost my mom."

 _That's right..._ she thought. Hadn't he just told her that the Fire Nation had been responsible for his losing his mom?

So, they had that in common... at least... in a way.

"The other airbenders may be gone, but you still have a family!" Katar was shouting above the wind. "Sokki and I... we're you're family now!"

The words made her want to cry, but for entirely different reasons than before. Some life was stirring in her broken heart again. She rather liked the idea of being a family with her new friends. Sokki was a little bit like a sister, wasn't she? And Katar... well she wasn't quite sure what he was yet, but the thought of staying by his side was very... comforting.

Almost before she realized it, her hands were unclenching, and her floating feet were descending towards the ground, the maelstrom around her subsiding. The wind died away. The ground settled. The storm within and without stilled.

She felt Sokki and Katar come up to flank her, and Katar's warm hand on her shoulder.

"Sokki and I aren't going to let anything happen to you," he told her, tenderly. "I promise."

He shot a look over Angka's shoulder at his sister.

"Uh, right! Right!" Sokki hastened to add, managing to smile genuinely nonetheless. "Nothing bad's happening to you on our watch, kid!" she promised.

With a soft sigh the glow faded from Angka's eyes. She felt all of sudden quite drained, her knees buckling softly under her.

Katar's arms were there to catch her. The rough texture of his fur-lined wool coat felt nice against her cheek, and he smelled of pitch and fish and oil. A strange scent, but one that seemed to suit him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She hadn't realized it before in the fog of her grief, but now she could see that the building she'd found the bodies in essentially no longer existed, reduced to rubble by the force of her pain. She could've hurt Sokki or Katar very easily in her blind anger and despair.

"It's okay," he reassured her. "It wasn't your fault."

"But you were _right_ ," she strained out. Her throat threatened to constrict again. "And if firebenders found this temple, then they found the other ones too."

Her eyes welled up thinking about it, imagining the fountains and courtyards of the Eastern Air Temple scorched to ruins, the bodies of everyone she'd grown up with left to rot, forgotten.

"I really _am_ the last airbender..." she said.

Katar just wrapped his arms around her, holding her tighter, enveloping her in the smokey fragrance of his coat.

Angka gave a shuddering sigh.

For just a moment, while he hugged her, she felt like she was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angka learns of the genocide of her people and has a rather destructive Heroic BSOD, which Katar brings her out of by reminding her You Are Not Alone. Also Sokki thinks air lemurs are actually kind of cute and definitely would not eat one. Probably.


	4. Hollow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was actually one of the first chapters I came up with, and since it would not let me not write it (or skip ahead), here it is. Because delicious angst.

_Warm, lazy sunlight beamed across her cheek. She rested her head on a soft lap, and gentle hands patted her hair._

_Angka stared morosely at a little spotted leopard-beetle that was flitting around the cool green leaves of the mountain lily growing in a small vase on the table._

" _Don't worry," a woman's voice crooned to her, reassuringly. "Monk Gyatso promised me he'd look after you."_

" _It's not that," Angka sighed, raising her head and sitting up. "What if... what if I'm no good?" she asked. She looked down at her toes. "What if I can't bend the other elements?" she mumbled._

" _You will. You're the Avatar," Nun Choenyi encouraged. "It's in your very nature."_

_Angka slumped against the woman's side. "It'd be easier if you were with me."_

_Choenyi laughed lightly, wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulders. "My place is here sweat pea. And you will need to concentrate on your training. I'd just be a distraction."_

_Angka clung to her, both arms tight around the woman's waist. "But I'll_ miss _you!" she strained, feeling wetness blur her eyes._

" _Oh sweetie..." Choenyi cooed, taking Angka's face in her hands. "No matter where you go," she told her. "I'll always be with you."_

" _Promise?" Angka warbled._

" _Promise."_

_Long, soft sleeves enveloped her, a heartbeat holding her close, a warm darkness that..._

-ATLA-

...melted into chilly night air and the musty leather saddle on Appa's back.

Angka started, blinking in disorientation a moment. She was curled up on her side, the gentle motion of Appa's lumbering breath raising her gently up and down. The night sky was moonless, only twinkling stars illuminating the night.

She sat up, shivering, her limbs stiff. She wrapped her arms around her knees, staring off into space and trying to ignore the sudden ache in her chest, inhaling a shuddering breath.

"Are you okay?"

Angka gasped softly, startling. She looked over the side of the saddle. Katar was sitting up in his sleeping bag on the ground below, looking at her in concern.

She forced a smile to her face. "I'm all right!" she said, in an overenthusiastic happy chirp. With a swirling move of her arm and a puff of airbending she lifted herself from Appa's back and floated softly to the ground. "Just couldn't sleep is all," she shrugged. She pointed off with her thumb. "I think I'll just go for a walk."

Katar began to get up. "I'll come with you," he offered.

"No that's fine," she said quickly, the cheer in her voice starting to crack. "I'm not going far," she insisted.

He was already next to her, sky-blue eyes probing, like she was made of glass and he could see straight through her.

"It's okay to be sad," he told her. "You don't have to hide it."

"I'm not—" The false note and the denial caught halfway up her throat, which was suddenly tightening, choking her. Her lip trembled.

A quivering sob forced itself from her mouth and she looked down, her eyes brimming with tears.

Katar took her shoulders, pulling her in for a hug. She sniffled softly, wetting the front of his chest.

"Hey... hey, it's okay," he assured her. "I'm right here."

"You won't leave?" Angka sobbed, voice muffled against his shirt.

He smiled. "I'm not going anywhere," he said. "Promise."

She exhaled shakily, gratefully resting her head on his collar bone as the hollow space inside her sharpened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We get a brief glimpse of Angka's life at the Eastern Air Temple (to be revisited later in the chapter that covers "The Storm") and meet her airmom, and learn that Angka is becoming a bit of a Stepford Smiler to hide her grief.
> 
> (Seriously though, Aang took the genocide of his people remarkably well considering the next episode he was laughing and playing with giant koi fish, so I'm betting it was only one part genuine and one part deliberate mental distraction so he wouldn't wind up a blubbering puddle of angst.)
> 
> Also Angka is getting rather attached to Katar's chest, she should see someone about that.
> 
> Kyoshi warriors up next and boy oh boy am I looking forward to that!


	5. Prickles

"Hey Katar?" asked Angka.

" _What?"_ Katar grumbled irritably, not turning around or looking up from the dishes he was furiously scrubbing.

Angka thumbed over her shoulder, expression concerned. "Your sister's being really weird about that Kyoshi boy, Suko?" Her eyes crinkled. "You think we should be worried?"

Katar scrubbed even more furiously at a particularly stubborn grease stain. "It's fine, Angka," he said through gritted teeth. "Sokki can do what she wants."

_Even if she wants to fawn all over a pretty boy just because he's good with a sword,_ his inner thoughts grumbled.

Reading his foul mood, Angka turned her concerned look on him.

"This isn't about your argument yesterday, is it?"

Katar's scowl deepened at the reminder.

-ATLA-

_There was a nip in the air, a frigid chill that had Katar concerned, given Angka's plan to take a dip in the freezing water._

_Sokki's only concern was moving on._

" _Do we really have time for this?" she complained. "I thought we were going straight to the North Pole."_

" _Yeah but that's like, on the other side of the world right now," Angka pointed out, as she stripped down. Katar tried not to stare at her tattoos as her bare arms and legs were exposed. "We're here now and those koi are just begging to ridden!" she added with a grin._

_Not swayed, Sokki crossed her arms sourly. "And the North Pole is going to_ **_stay_ ** _on the other side of the world if we don't get moving," she pointed out._

" _Oh lighten up, Sokki," Katar chided, whapping her with one of the bedrolls. He turned his eyes on Angka again, his voice softening. "Let her have a little fun."_

" _That's all we've_ ** _been_** _doing!" Sokki protested. "I say, we skip all this nonsense," she said as she reached down, trying to gather up Angka's shirt and slacks in order to hand them back to her, "and focus on our mission_ — _getting to the North Pole." She emphasized the last part with not-so-hidden irritation._

_Katar grabbed the clothes out of his sister's hands in aggravation. "Well, you're not the leader, I am," he said. He looked at Angka again, with a quiet swell of relief at how genuine her smile was, how undampened her excitement. There was no trace of the hollow emptiness behind her happy mask. He hadn't seen it disappear like this for days. "And I say we could use a little break," he added softly._

_Sokki scoffed at him. "Since when are you the leader? Who decided that?"_

_Rounding to face her he argued, "Look, I've been taking care of practically the whole village for ages."_

" _Mending blankets, cooking and cleaning, and watching children!" Sokki exclaimed. "That's not leadership, that's babysitting!" she protested. "If dad had left me in charge then—"_

" _Then you would have made a mess of everything!" Katar interrupted hotly, actual anger behind his words now. He was in no mood to be lectured on manhood and leadership by his sister. "You're not a warrior, Sokki, so just stop pretending to be one!" he spat._

_He almost regretted his words when he saw the pinched sting on Sokki's face, but didn't have time to apologize before she was angry too, and shouting her own harsh indictments at him._

" _You're not a warrior either, Katar!" she yelled. "So don't get all high and mighty with me! At least I can fight!"_

_Katar avoided her eyes guiltily. "I can... fight..." he mumbled, flustered._

" _You never fight! Not even when it matters! That's what's going to get people hurt!" Sokki yelled._

_The weight of the unspoken meaning behind her words caused palpable tension in the air for a few seconds._

_Angka had been looking awkwardly back and forth between the siblings for a while, sensing that there were more layers to this argument that just what had been said on the surface level, and quickly deciding she probably didn't want to know about it._

" _IIIIIIII'm gonna go ride the koi now," she announced._

-ATLA-

Of course not long after that they had been ambushed by Suko and the Kyoshi warriors and Sokki had practically fallen all over herself at the idea of a boy who could _fight,_ who was an _elite warrior,_ not at all like her _useless_ pansy wuss of a brother—Suko had been having a bizarre effect on his sister and her ability to hold a conversation; she rambled at a thousand miles an hour, babbling unceasingly, and hadn't taken much care to censor her unfavorable opinions about men.

Or more specifically, _him_.

Remembering that Angka had asked him a question, Katar resumed scrubbing and finally answered with a terse, "No."

"Okay, that's good!" Angka said, tone awkwardly light, like she knew whatever she said would be useless at helping him work through his foul mood. "I'm sure she doesn't really mean it, you know? I know plenty of guys who aren't fighters, and they're all great!"

"Good for you," slipped out of his mouth in a dry grumble before he could stop it. He understood what she was trying to do, he really did, but Angka couldn't understand the kind of culture he'd grown up in, the expectations and pressures a young man like him faced in a decidedly non-pacisfistic society. The expectations Sokki held for him, that he consistently failed to live up to, had been failing to live up to ever since...

He fell silent, focusing on the soft clink of dishes and the slosh of water.

Angka watched him for a few more moments before giving up and declaring, "Well, I'm gonna go. Koda and the boys are gonna show me around."

Oh, and then there was _that._

Katar tried to keep his voice impassively disinterested as he said, "Fine."

"Bye!" Angka called, entirely too brightly and chipper for his liking.

_Like any of them would even care if you weren't the Avatar or pay you the time of_ —

Katar stopped washing, leaning his hands on the edges of the basin with a long sigh.

This was ridiculous.

Sokki was right, much as he hated it. If he were stronger, tougher, like their father, he could have fought Suko and the others off when they'd gotten ambushed. He would be able to just walk right up to the group of clingy hangers-on that Angka had so recently acquired and tell them all to back off and leave—

Aaaaand he stopped his train of thought right there, before he could feel even more stupid. Spirits he was pathetic. Feeling insecure because of a bunch of kids fanboying their hero. It wasn't like he could blame them. Angka _was_ pretty amazing. If he wasn't so busy stewing over Sokki dragging him in front of Kyoshi's esteemed warriors he might have joined in and just followed the group around as they toured the island.

Katar dropped his scrub brush into the basin and turned to head for the door. Dishes weren't helping anymore.

_I need to go practice my bending or something_ , he thought.

-ATLA-

And yet, an hour later, here he was sitting on one of the wooden porches, still moping and feeling sorry for himself.

He sighed again. What was _wrong_ with him?

He hadn't seen Angka or her fanboys in a while. Last he'd heard from them, Koda was tugging on her arm begging for a ride on Appa. Presumably they'd gone outside the village to do just that.

There were rustling footsteps in the grass just behind him.

"Uh... Hey Katar," came Sokki's voice, sounding reluctant to talk to him.

Katar pulled his legs up to his chest and hugged them. "Thought you were trying to play swords with the Kyoshi warriors," he said. Less snarkily, he asked, "Where've you been?"

Sokki's footfalls sounded on the wooden steps of the porch and then she was sitting down next to him, folding her skirt beneath her.

"I, uh... I made a fool of myself in front of Suko," she told him, cheeks flushing as she remembered the embarrassment. "I don't think he'll be eager to see me again."

Katar chuckled. "Couldn't take your self-taught Water Tribe techniques, huh?" he teased.

"No it's not—well okay yes, that too but—" Sokki conceded, stumbling over her words. She stared at a tuft of grass on the ground near the edge of the porch, Suko's chiding words echoing in her ears. She didn't even remember what she'd been saying, she was just babbling on about being the _real_ warrior of their family—trying to make excuses for how miserably she'd failed to spar against him—and Suko had just suddenly come out with a harsh, "Why are you so hard on your brother? There's nothing wrong with a man who doesn't like fighting." He'd folded stern arms over his breastplate and said dismissively,"Maybe stop treating him with such contempt and I'll consider you worthy enough to teach."

It had made her insides sink, made her want to dig a hole and pile dirt overtop her head to hide from the shame. And she'd been dragging that guilt around since leaving the dojo.

She took a deep breath. "Look, I..." she began, looking at her brother. "I just wanna say... I'm sorry. I've been really harsh to you about the whole not-being-a-good-fighter thing."

"It's okay..." Katar mumbled, nose in his arms and avoiding her eyes.

"No, it really isn't. I've been a jerk," Sokki insisted. "You're right, I'm not the warrior I like to pretend I am. It isn't fair to make fun of you when I'm not any better."

Katar finally sidled a glance at her. "What brought this on?" he asked.

She shrugged, flushing again and finding the grass tuft very interesting. "Just something Suko said."

For a while the two siblings sat in silence. Then, Sokki straightened up.

She looked around. "So... where's Angka?"

"Haven't seen her." Katar drooped his head into his arms "She's probably still somewhere showing off for those boys."

His sister peered at him curiously, tilting her head. "Are you... jealous?"

" _No_ ," Katar denied at once.

"Of a bunch of ten-year-olds?" she asked incredulously.

"No!" Katar huffed and tightened his arms sourly and tried looking everywhere but at her. "That would be... stupid," he muttered.

Sokki grinned knowingly. "Yeah, it would be," she said.

Katar sighed. "I should probably go look for her though," he decided, uncurling and standing up. "See if she's all right."

He was halfway down the steps of the porch when he stopped and turned back to Sokki.

"You know... I bet Suko would give you another chance if you asked him nicely."

She wrinkled her face at that, uncertain. "You think?"

Katar smiled. "Just don't let your big ol' mean warrior ego get in the way," he teased.

"Right," she said, shrinking into her shoulders with embarrassment.

-ATLA-

It was lucky that he'd gone looking for Angka when he did. For some reason, she'd accepted a dare from one of the boys to go ride the Unagi—a nasty-tempered sea serpent that had rudely interrupted Angka's delightful water romp with the giant Kyoshi koi the other day.

The Unagi hadn't shown at first, prompting the bored boys to wander off, but all too soon after Katar had gotten to the scene showed its ugly face.

And then the Fire Nation had shown up too.

Heart in his throat, Katar clutched Angka tight to his chest as he waited for the rhino-mounted firebenders to move on. The clumping footsteps of the lumbering creatures slowly faded from hearing.

Letting out a shuddering breath, Katar uncurled Angka's body and laid her out flat. She'd taken a nasty hit from the Unagi's tail and didn't seem responsive. He tried not to panic, reaching a hand over her chest to check if she'd inhaled any water.

He could feel some responding to his grip. Carefully, he drew it out of her lungs and up her throat, relieved when Angka immediately coughed in response.

Her eyelids lifted and she blinked, blearily. "Katar..." she rasped. "Don't ride the Unagi. Not fun."

"I can imagine," he joked, smiling in spite of the close call. His nerves shuddered in relief, the frantic pace of his heart beginning to calm. He reached out to offer her his arms. "C'mon. That was Zuka's ship. She's probably on her way to the village right now."

Angka looked stricken at that, a horrified expression flashing across her face. She hurried to retrieve her clothes, tangling them in an effort to get them back on her body as quickly as possible. Katar had to come help straighten her shirt before they both took off running, heading back for the village as fast as they could.

Zuka was in the middle of the street, surrounded by tiny burning fires and temporarily downed Kyoshi warriors, when they arrived.

"Hiding like a scared little girl behind your bodyguards? Come out and fight, Avatar!" she shouted in challenge, her harsh gold eyes flashing with fury.

Katar shuddered, but Angka wasted no time in confronting the Fire Nation princess.

"I'm not hiding!" she declared. "I'm right here!"

Zuka looked almost relieved a moment, before her eyes hardened determinedly and she was sending fireballs sailing through the air towards the airbender.

He _hated_ to stand by and watch Angka face the girl alone. But Koda and another boy were tugging fearfully at his clothes, cowering behind him. Katar turned around and scooped them both up, tucking low and bounding up the steps to one of the huts. He glanced back as he set the boys down.

He needn't have worried so much. No sooner had Angka gotten her hands on a pair of fans—one of the signature weapons of Kyoshi, an accessory to the light, aerodynamic swords they carried—then the fight was over. Zuka was blown comically into the side of a building by a gust of strong wind. The sight was so funny Katar forgot how intimidating the Fire Nation princess was.

"Get inside!" he whispered to the boys nonetheless, pushing them towards the open door and shelter, where a handful of other villagers were already hiding.

When he turned back again Angka was beside him, looking sadly at the smashed buildings and the fire licking up Avatar Kyoshi's brightly-painted statue, the Fire Nation soldiers further down the street, battling the Kyoshi warriors atop their rhinos.

"Look what I brought to this place," she said miserably.

"It's not your fault," Katar assured her.

She shook her head. "Yes it _is_ ," she insisted. Her eyes were full of despair. "These people got their town destroyed to protect me!"

Katar inhaled slowly, accepting the truth in her words, and said, "Then... let's get out of here. Zuka will leave Kyoshi to follow us."

_Running instead of fighting. Again_ , came the thought, unbidden, to him.

He drowned it out by saying, "I know it feels wrong to run, but I think it's the only way," half trying to convince himself of it.

Angka seemed to agree with him, her shoulders slumping. "I'll call Appa," she said.

They shuffled out of sight of the main street, behind one of the buildings. The giant air bison came at once when Angka yelled for him, and with a quick boost up from Katar, she was quickly in the pilot's seat.

Katar scrambled up into the saddle a little awkwardly, then had a sudden panicked thought.

"Wait—!" he said, looking around frantically. "Where's Sokki?"

Angka peered over Appa's back, towards one of the rear porches. "I think that's her," she said, pointing.

Katar almost had to double-take. What he had thought were two Kyoshi warriors huddled together in conference were in fact Suko and his sister, and she was decked head to toe in the same green and gold as him, distinctive white facepaint plastered on her face. He was just pulling away from her; her hand was on her cheek and she was staring back at him as if stunned. He heard Suko ribbing her playfully to go, and with that, the boy disappeared around the corner.

Sokki stood, turning and climbing up Appa's tail, and Katar gawped at her once again.

"Sokki?" he said in disbelief.

"Yeah?" she said.

He couldn't help it. Katar covered his mouth to stifle a giggle.

"Are you... wearing a _dress?_ " he asked.

Sokki flushed immediately bright red underneath her white makeup.

"Yes I'm wearing a dress!" she snapped defensively. "What's wrong with that?! I can wear dresses! _I am a girl you know!_ " she practically screeched.

"It looks good, Sokki!" Angka chirruped helpfully, snapping the reins. "Appa, yip yip!"

Sokki staggered a moment as the air bison lurched beneath her, but took her seat with a hot face, shrinking into the silken shoulders of the Kyoshi warrior robes and pointedly avoiding looking at her brother.

"Sorry Sokki I just..." Katar chuckled again. "You _do_ look nice." He took a seat next to her, curling his arms around his legs. "Soooo... I guess you smoothed things out with Suko, huh?" he teased.

Her hand drifted back up to her pale white cheek, rubbing the spot self-consciously. "He says I've got promise..." she murmured. "So thanks, you know," she said, ducking her head. "For the advice. And... sorry for being up your butt again."

Katar nodded to accept her apology. For now, it would be enough to mend the tension between them. "You're forgiven," he told her gently.

-ATLA-

Angka's heart warmed privately as she listened in on their conversation. Things had been off kilter in their trio ever since setting foot on the island. Part of her had wanted to get all the way down to the roots of the conflict between the two siblings—clearly a philosophical disagreement about the societal roles of men and women wasn't all of it—and part of her was just a little bit terrified that if she did, her new little found family would break apart at the seams. The past two days had been extraordinarily awkward for her, overthinking everything she said, feeling like she was walking on eggshells. Showing off for the other kids had been all too welcome a relief. Katar was not fun to be around when he was grouchy.

But now, she thought giddily... his smile was back. The tension was gone from his shoulders. Even when she'd abruptly rolled herself off Appa's head to drop into the water below, bring the Unagi to the surface to get it to spray water across the rooftops of the village, putting out the fires, he'd merely agreed with her calmly once she was back in the saddle that it had been a dangerous and reckless thing to do, before wrapping his arms around her in a surprise hug.

She gasped happily, a dozen nameless thrills shooting through her. She closed her eyes, sighing in contentment until he eventually pulled away.

It was good to have Katar back. Even Sokki seemed to be less abrasive. Softer, somehow.

"You know," she was saying. "Suko taught me a few things... a few techniques I could show you... if you want."

"Really?" he said in surprise. " _You'd_ teach _me_ how to fight?"

She shrugged. "It's what we both want." She slung her arms on her knees casually, ruby-coated lips spreading in a grin. "Might as well do it together."

"You guys are so much more fun when you're not fighting," Angka commented as she headed back up to Appa's head to retake the reins. "Next stop, Omashu!"

A sense of satisfaction settled over her as she snapped the reins, steering Appa off into the sun.

Her family was back to normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sokki and Katar butt heads over gender roles, Katar grumps around totally not being jealous, Sokki gets very flustered by handsome Kyoshi boys and gets a bit more in touch with her feminine side and also sort of starts to balance that with her desire to beat people's heads in, and Angka just really really wants everyone to get along please.
> 
> So! This chapter was kind of a challenge to figure out at first. I didn't want to do a straight genderflip plot reversal because for one it would be boring and for two, with the ingrained backstory I have for Dude!Katara and Girl!Sokka, it just wouldn't mesh with their characters well. Sokka said dumb sexist things because, well... he was just kind of an ass. Sokki's misandry I wanted to stem from something a little deeper. So I decided her negative feelings about men should be because of Katar's failings in particular... because she unconsciously blames him somewhat for their mother's death. And he sort of knows this too, which adds to his own guilt complex and feelings of inadequacy about the whole matter. This is something I'm actually really excited to keep exploring and eventually resolve between the two as this fic goes along.
> 
> Kyoshi Warriors are mostly unchanged, save for upgrading their primary weapon to a sword and relegating the fans to secondary accessory weapons.
> 
> Not quite as much Kataang content as in previous chapters but hey, the kids are at that awkward stage where they don't know what they're feeling yet. All Katar knows is that he's inexplicably shy about seeing Angka without her shirt on. XD


	6. Crazy

Flopsy was bouncing happily around the pen, giving licks to a giggling Angka. He watched nervously from the balcony, still not entirely sure the giant... _whatever_ it was wasn't going to turn around and bite her head off.

Sokki was busy dunking her head in a bowl of water, complaining all the while about sugar rock particles stuck in her hair. And the old Earth King was just cackle-snorting and taking large bites out of leaves of lettuce.

...It had been a weird couple of days.

Katar rubbed the hand where the creeping crystal ring had been attached. Even though he and Sokki had apparently never actually been in any real danger, he couldn't shake the creepy feeling of having been helpless, _again_ , unable to aid Angka as she faced the mad king's trials.

It was starting to become a bad habit. Katar had thought his waterbending skill would be progressing faster with all the work and effort he'd been throwing into it. But he still wasn't strong enough to be any good in a fight.

Katar peeked over at Bumi. He was wearing his robes again, hunched over, the silken fabric hiding the sinewy muscles beneath.

For an old man he was surprisingly cut.

"Are you staring at me, young man?"

Bumi's voice alerted Katar to the fact that he was gawking a little too obviously. Facing forward quickly, Katar blurted out a nervous, "No sir!"

"Well why not? I think I happen to be very interesting," demanded Bumi, in a tone of voice that made Katar very confused as to whether or not the man was joking.

"Uh..."

Bumi's wrinkled face broke into a grin and he let out one of his distinctive cackles. "Heh heh. You should see the look on your face."

One of the king's trim arms landed around Katar's shoulders, and Katar was almost bowled over by the strength of the gesture.

"Don't worry about it, kid. I know I'm funny-looking."

Katar gave a strained smile, uncomfortably glancing around to see if there was a way to extricate himself from this conversation.

The king's aids were standing silent off in the corners and Sokki was muttering as she wiped her mouth. No help there.

Angka was still playing with Flopsy. Katar swallowed as he watched her, sliding a look towards Bumi. His mind replayed the battle the Earth King had given her, how relentless and powerful his attacks were, how amazingly strong he'd revealed himself to be.

"So... you're pretty good at fighting," he said, and then immediately flinched at how awkward he sounded.

"Pretty good!" Bumi guffawed. His eyes sobered and he poked a stern finger into Katar's collar. "I'm one of the best, and don't you forget it!"

Clamping down on his nervousness at the man's intense stare, Katar pressed forward. "You wouldn't happen to have any advice for a novice self-taught waterbender-in-training would you?"

The grin returned to Bumi's face. "Nope!" he said. "'fraid not! Waterbending's not my area of expertise. I know someone though. A master at the North Pole." He turned away, stroking his beard, his eyes scrunching in confusion. "Now what was his name?" he wondered aloud.

"I just hoped... I mean... I'm trying to get better at..." Katar stumbled over his words for a moment or two, then just gave up and finished, "Never mind. It's not important." Clearing his throat, he put his hands on the rails and changed the subject. "I still can't believe you were friends with Angka a hundred years ago," he marveled. "Is she still pretty much the same as you remember or...?"

Bumi smiled fondly. "Hasn't changed a bit." He pulled another lettuce leaf out from his sleeve, waving it around as he spoke. "Oh the stories I could tell! Wild rascals we were, always getting up to something or another. You know she had _quite_ the little crush on me when we were younger..."

Katar had a brief moment of irrational internal panic. "Uh... she did?" he squeaked.

"Kidding!" Bumi cackled, dissolving into a fresh burst of hacking laughter. "I'm just kidding! Nah, I was never her type. Thicker than thieves we were, but not much into that icky mushy stuff."

"Oh good..." Katar breathed to himself.

A hand fell on his shoulder and Katar found himself turned to face Bumi, the old king's expression stone-cold serious, burning with conviction.

"You take care of her now, you hear?" he said. "Angka's plenty capable of handling herself, but there's a lot of people out there that don't want it known that the Avatar has returned." The fingers tightened on his shoulder. "She's going to need friends she can count on these coming days. Friends she can trust. Can you be that for her, sonny?"

His nerves were fluttering, but he straightened up a bit and answered at once, "I will."

"That's the spirit!" Bumi crowed, grin stretching his face again. He offered something out to Katar. "Rock candy?"

Katar grimaced down at the greenish gem-like treat. "I'll pass."

Bumi shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said, biting off a large chunk and then whistling to Flopsy and tossing the pet the rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Katar and Sokki meet Angka's childhood and are not entirely sure they like him. Bumi trolls Katar and charges him with protecting the Avatar. Guess he better hurry up and get good at waterbending, lol.
> 
> Bumi was a ton of fun to write. And of course it's always a blast to have Katar being super awkward.


	7. Interlude: Water Battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the first of what I like to call the Interludes. Every five or six chapters or so I will break from the chronological retelling in order to skip ahead and have some shenanigans with established couple genderbent Kataang.
> 
> This one takes place about three or four years after the series, so Angka is about 16/17 and Katar is 18/19.

"Seems a waste to spend such a nice day training," Angka commented lightly, stretching out her arms above her head.

Katar noted that her lean frame was getting rather toned, her long bare arms starting to show a bit of muscle definition. It was intensely distracting, and he had to shake himself before he could reply.

"Maybe, but we're moving back inland tomorrow, and there won't be as convenient a water source." He cracked his knuckles, working out the kinks in his limbs. "Besides," he added with a grin, "I learned some new moves the other day that I want to teach you."

That seemed to satisfy the Avatar, who began wading into the shallow waves on the edge of the beach.

"All right then," she said. She put her hands up and bowed respectfully. "Ready when you are, Sifu Katar."

A thrill shot through him and Katar privately delighted. He always loved it when Angka called him that.

He stepped into the water, following Angka until they were both about knee-deep in the crashing surf. Katar frowned when he noticed Angka wince and wobble from a bad step.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

She reached down into the water and pulled up a spiny-looking blob of a creature, showing it off and grinning.

"Pricklefish. I guess I disturbed him."

She carefully tossed the ball of spikes off behind her.

"There you go little guy," she cooed at it.

"They're not poisonous are they?" Katar asked in concern, suddenly worried.

She just readied herself, swirling a tendril of water up from between her feet and curling it around her arm. "Re _lax_ Katar," she chided lightly. "They're harmless. Honestly, what's been up with you lately? You've been on edge ever since we ran into those Fire Nation protesters in Yu Dao."

It _had_ been weighing on him. But he knew she worried when he worried and if he let it fester between them it just spiraled into a mess of tension and anxiety so he brushed it off with an irreverent joke.

"I'm surprised you're _not_ on edge," he said, rolling a ball of water in his hands. "You're the one they almost killed."

"Meh," she shrugged. "They tried their best. And their best was really boring."

Katar's hand drew back and he grinned. "Heads up!"

The orb streaked across the space between them, smacking Angka square in the face and bursting.

She sputtered, coughing up and wiping long wet strands from her eyes.

"Hey, cheap shot!" she complained, laughing.

She sent a barrage of ice spikes at him. He blocked with a thin wave immediately, freezing it in place, then melting it after the icicles pinged off the barrier harmlessly.

Without wasting any motion, he sent the wave back at her, watching her split it in two and part it around her.

They traded shots for a few minutes, him advancing one moment and retreating the next. Angka danced around his attacks with all the grace of an airbender, maddeningly elusive. It made him want to push harder, really unleash the waterbending fury, but he hesitated, reluctant to do anything that might actually hurt her.

After several minutes of easily sliding around his water whips and ice shards, Angka seemed to notice that.

"So I know you said you were gonna teach me some new tricks," she said conversationally, running along a slope of ice that sprang up to block her path. "But so far all I'm seeing is the same old waterbending." She flipped off the slope, hands swinging downwards to melt it back into the ocean before she lightly set foot on a protruding rock. "Wait..." She squinted, her face pinching in suspicion. "Are you holding back on me?"

Katar pushed a wet strand of hair away from his face, averting his eyes. "Maybe a little," he admitted sheepishly.

Angka grinned, standing with her feet apart and her hands on her hips. "C'mon Katar, I beat the Firelord," she said. "You're not gonna hurt me. I can handle whatever you can dish out." Her grin turned impish, teasing. "Or are you just afraid you're gonna get your butt kicked by a girl again?"

The words fanned the flame of competition inside him, turning it into a blaze. His brows flattened seriously over his eyes.

"Oh ho ho, it is _on_ now," he chuckled darkly.

The water behind him frothed ominously.

-ATLA-

Columns of water erupted from the sea, twisting around and spewing in great gushes towards Angka, who squeaked as they inundated her, making her vanish from sight briefly.

A moment later she reappeared, balancing on a tightly-spinning air ball above the maelstrom.

Katar didn't let her have much of a reprieve. The swirling eddies followed her up, tossing her on the air ball like a floating lure.

She shrieked in delight, flailing about to keep her ball together.

The water suddenly dropped back down, returning to its place as Katar released it, and Angka yelped as she was suddenly dumped into the ocean, deeper out than they'd been sparring before.

Turning over a few times in the surf, Angka found the bottom and pushed up, breaking the surface.

She looked around for Katar, growing a bit frantic when she couldn't see him.

He made himself known quickly, though, his arms coming around her midsection as he pulled her back down into the water.

Her squeal was cut off as her head was dunked. Katar used his bending to propel them back to shore, the wave spilling them out onto the wet sand.

They rolled over and over until Katar emerged on top, pinning down her shoulders with a feverish grin, his eyes alight with triumph.

"Gotcha!" he declared.

She giggled. Both of them panted breathlessly for a moment, the excitement and exertion mingling in a heady cocktail within them. Angka could feel sand seeping into her hair, brought by the trickling waves splashing into her, but she didn't mind, Katar was happy, and she was happy to let him have a fair win.

All of a sudden he seemed to realize how close they were. His face blanked, his eyes going wide and a slight blush appearing on his cheeks.

He was absolutely adorable.

"Uh..." he stammered. His eyes glanced down towards their tangled legs, glanced back up to her face, lingering on the bare patches of skin she was showing.

He looked straight at her, his gaze locked with hers, holding there uncertainly.

With an impish grin, she reached up, wrapping both arms around his neck and pulling him down for a kiss.

He melted into her almost instantly, his mouth relaxing and fitting to hers with a practiced ease. His hands drifted up to cup her face, his sand-covered fingers on her skin and tangling in her hair.

She sighed in contentment, clutching him tighter, arms around his shoulders, feeling the warmth of his body against hers. His skin felt—

"Ahem!"

An annoyed little throat-clearing interrupted the moment. Angka and Katar broke apart, Katar quickly scooting off her, out of their compromising position.

Both of them looked up sheepishly at Sokki, who stood above them with hands on her hips and narrowed eyes.

"Am I interrupting something?" she asked flatly.

Angka popped herself off the sand with a casual hop, brushing grains off her front. "Hi Sokki! We were just training!" she said, grinning widely.

"In what, tonguebending?" Sokki muttered, turning aside to start picking up their clothes.

Katar sighed deeply, frustration in the lines of his face. "What do you _want_ , Sokki?" he groaned.

"Oh, Zuka sent me," she answered lightly. "Something about the delegates from Omashu being ready. So we gotta go entertain them or something. I kinda wasn't paying attention."

Katar stubbed his toe into the sand. "Figures," he sighed.

Angka snapped her fingers dejectedly. "Rats," she agreed. Shrugging off her disappointment, she reached to take Katar's hand. "Guess you'll have to show me those new moves sometime else," she teased as she led him towards the path back up to the house. "C'mon, let's go."

She thoroughly enjoyed the scandalized look Sokki shot her as they passed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Katar is eternal fretting worried husband over Angka, who loves to rile him up and also gross out Sokki with their affections.
> 
> Next chapter will cover "Imprisoned"!


	8. Replacement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I be, getting right back into that Season One action. Let's meet Girl!Haru!

The chill sea breeze lifted tiny droplets onto his face.

Katar shivered slightly, looking out across the waves towards the brightening sun on the horizon. Black smoke from the ruined Fire Nation prison still billowed high into the air, as their escape ships sailed further and further away from the rig.

Adrenaline still ran excitedly through his veins. He couldn't believe the past few days had happened. They'd infiltrated a prison. They'd fought the Fire Nation.

They'd won.

Sokki had been by just a few moments ago, to congratulate him. Of course, she'd made it sound like he'd done it all to play the big strong hero in the eyes of their new friend Haruhi, teasing him about rescuing damsels in distress.

The words had prickled him, and not just because he was absolutely _not_ interested in the earthbender that way.

He hadn't been _trying_ to play the hero he was just... when he'd heard Haruhi had been taken... and it was his fault, _again..._

 _Shame_ had been his first motive. He was ashamed of not being there when it happened, ashamed of failing yet again to protect his friends. His impulse decision to fake earthbending in order to get arrested and sent to the same offshore prison as Haruhi was at first a desperate attempt to make up for the guilt that smothered him.

But then something had happened on the rig. Seeing all those once-proud earthbenders dejectedly accepting their imprisonment, beaten down and spirits broken had ignited something inside him. A passion he didn't know he was capable of.

It made him want to train all the harder, so that if—no, _when—_ the next time came and the Fire Nation was threatening his friends again, threatening _her,_ he would be able to fight by her side.

His gaze drifted, finding Angka at once, sitting atop Appa's head as the bison floated along beside the ship and playing happily with Momo, teasing the lemur with little circling air balls.

He still couldn't believe how good she was with animals. She was so gentle. So comfortable. She rubbed Momo's head like he was a loyal dog and the lemur chirred pleasantly at her touch. Her smile was warm. Beautiful.

He'd do anything to keep seeing it.

"That's her, isn't it?" asked a voice from his left.

Katar glanced up to see Haruhi, standing just a little ways behind him. Her long brown hair brushed her shoulders as she nodded towards Angka.

"The Avatar."

"Yeah..." Katar murmured, watching Angka giggle as Momo crawled into her lap and licked her face.

Haruhi grinned, leaning her arms on the railing. "I was going to ask you to come with us but..." she trailed off.

Katar was already shaking his head.

"You already have a mission don't you?" said Haruhi, answering her own question.

"Yeah," Katar repeated. He fiddled with the bracer on his wrist. "We have to get Angka to the North Pole."

So she could learn waterbending. So she could save the world.

Haruhi's smile faded and she looked down towards the waves, growing somber. "Thank you," she said, "for bringing my father back to me." She shook her head. "I never thought I'd see him again." She straightened, turning to the right to face him. Her eyes were sad as she said, "I only wish there was some way..."

She left the thought unfinished.

A twinge of pain clenched through his head. "I know," he said, his hand absently reaching towards his neck.

The twinge turned into a cold flash of panic as his fingers met with a terrifying nothingness. Katar gasped, eyes darting down.

"My mother's necklace!" he cried. "It's gone!"

Haruhi's eyes widened and Angka looked up at the sound of his distress.

-ATLA-

He looked everywhere.

Well, everywhere it was safe to look. He'd been up and down every inch of the ship, frantically searching every corner, every crevice, praying desperately it was somewhere here and not back on the rig.

Because if it was still at the prison it was as good as gone. They couldn't go back. The Fire Nation would be all over the place. He wouldn't risk Angka's safety just to retrieve a piece of jewelry, even one as precious a memento as his mother's necklace.

Still, it felt like a large chunk had been torn out of his heart, ripped from his chest and flung into the dirt.

The raw wound was still stinging when they made landfall, said goodbye to Haruhi and her father Tyro and the other liberated earthbenders, and started back on their way.

Sokki was unusually quiet, respectful of the loss. She trudged along beside him, carrying the heaviest pack, just clutching the shoulder straps tightly.

Angka was also silent, busy working something in her hands. Momo perched on her shoulder, batting at her hair, and Appa shuffled along in her wake, taking a break from carrying them.

They found a little rocky hollow, bathed orange by the darkening sunset and stopped for the evening. Sokki volunteered herself to go find some firewood, while Katar busied himself with setting out their bedrolls.

He worked numbly. Methodically. Trying not to think too much.

A sudden blur washed over his vision as he patted the bedroll straight. Katar started and blinked furiously, quickly reaching up an arm to wipe his eyes.

None of that. It was just a stupid necklace. He wasn't going to _cry_ over it.

But the image came to him unbidden of a woman's warm face, caring and soft, a bright shine off the pendant at her neck and his vision blurred again, wet drops spilling out and trailing his cheeks.

He rubbed at his face harder now, his sleeve scraping on his skin.

"Hey, uh... Katar?" came Angka's voice, hesitantly.

Katar composed himself and looked up at her, trying for a smile that he could already feel looked forced. "Yes?"

Angka was looking down at her toes, rubbing one foot into the dirt. Her hands clasped something behind her.

"I'm really sorry about your mom's necklace," she said. "And _—_ " She peeked up briefly, then quickly lowered her eyes again. " _—_ and I know I can't ever replace it but..."

She brought her hands out to the front, holding something out to him in her palms.

Katar straightened, his eyes widening.

Angka had somehow found a very thin, very smooth-surfaced blue-white shell that she'd clumsily scratched the Water Tribe waves onto. The shell was threaded through on either side with tautly braided green leaves that trailed into thin knotted ends.

Her cheeks burned pink as she looked everywhere but at him.

"I thought..." she stammered, "...if I made you a new one it might... cheer you up a little?"

He marveled, reaching out a hand to take one of the braided strings and lift the pretty pendant off her hands. "You made this?" he asked. "For me?"

She rubbed a hand up through her hair sheepishly. "I couldn't really remember what the symbol on the front looked like so I kind of just took my best guess, and then I looked for leaves that were bluish but there weren't really any so _—_ "

He interrupted her with arms flung around her small frame. He squeezed tightly, feeling like he would burst if he let her go for even a second.

"You're amazing," he whispered.

He could feel her squirming uncomfortably. "It's just a necklace," she muttered.

He laughed, his heart feeling just a little bit lighter.

"It's just what I needed," he assured her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Katar gains a little bit of self-confidence and passion, Haruhi's shipper senses are tingling, Katar loses an important plot macguffin to be picked up and passed around by various parties later, and Angka makes him a new necklace a few episodes earlier than in canon because shut up I wanted to and you can't stop me.
> 
> The kids are growing sweet on each other quickly. Too bad neither of them are aware of it yet, lol. That will come later.
> 
> Planning on regular weekly updates for this baby. We'll see if I can keep to that schedule.


	9. Solstice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyyy, it's ya girl!
> 
> Writing goal for this year is to try and have a chapter of this baby out once a week. Hopefully I can stick to it.
> 
> I won't keep you. Let's dive right in!

Katar was still sleeping, slumped against the lintel frame of the village gate, the elder's cloak draped over his shoulders.

His face looked haggard. Worry was worn into every line. She wanted so desperately to reach out and touch him, grab his shoulder and shake him awake, let him know she was there, let him throw his arms around her and wrap her in his familiar scent.

Angka stretched out her hand, palm up, and sighed at her transparent blue fingers.

"What am I gonna do?" she moaned.

She had tried looking for Hei Bai again. Tried sitting down and meditating like the monks had showed her. Tried closing her eyes and just _wishing_ to be corporeal again.

Nothing had worked. She was stuck. Stuck partway in the Spirit World where no one could see or hear her and she was all alone.

Sitting here by Katar was the only thing she had left. Even if he couldn't see her, she didn't want to leave him.

_But I **have** to, _her mind argued at her. _I have to figure this out. I have to find a way to get back or..._

She cast a despairing glance at him.

_...or he'll have waited all night in vain._

She bit her lip. Summoning up a cheerful smile, she spoke.

"I'll figure this out, Katar, I promise. Like they said, I'm the bridge between worlds, right?"

The words felt hollow in her own ears. Last night's floundering had certainly proved what a failure of a mediator between spirits and people she was.

"All I have to do is... figure out what I have to do," she went on, hoping some of her encouragement was reaching him. Giving him hope. "But once I do that, no problem."

A rumbling huff sounded. For a moment her heart lifted.

"Appa!" she called. She stood up, using her staff to get to her feet. "Hey buddy, I'm right here!"

The bison had no reaction to Angka's call. He leaned down, blowing air into Katar's face.

Angka's eyes fell. "But I guess you can't see me either," she sighed, disappointed.

She watched as Katar woke, groggy eyes fixing on Appa, tired smile stretching his mouth.

"Hey," he greeted the bison, patting his nose. "Guess you didn't get much sleep either."

Appa gave a mournful moan.

"I know, I wish she was here too." His hands were soft as they brushed over Appa's face. "It's okay, Appa. Don't worry, I'm sure they're on their way back."

He straightened, getting up, rubbing under his eyes.

"C'mon, let's get some food and then let's go out and look for our girl, okay?"

Appa rumbled in agreement, shuffling after Katar as he trudged back towards the main house—one of the only ones still left standing after last night's rampage.

Angka's head was screaming in frustration. Katar passed so close to her and yet he was maddeningly far away, and he was going to leave to look for her but she was _right there_ and she didn't know where to go and—

She smacked her staff against the ground.

"What am I supposed to _do?_ " she cried. She looked towards the sky, eyes pleading. "Avatar Roku? Hello? Anyone? Please... please help me!"

Her breath caught. She heard something... something coming closer.

She peered into the dense forest, squinting.

A glowing light resolved into a winding shape. Rippling. Graceful.

A dragon.

Eyes widening, Angka took several frightened steps back, but couldn't bring herself to turn and run as the great beast came straight for her. She knew she couldn't airbend; she'd already tried long ago, a last-ditch effort to make herself known to Katar. Could she reason with it? Maybe it was more willing to listen than Hei Bai?

No more time to think about it. The dragon landed heavily in front of her, long neck towering over her head. Angka gave a fearful inhale, gripping her staff in her right hand tight, but standing her ground.

"H—hello?" she called timidly.

The dragon's keen eyes bored into her. It lowered its great head, the tendril of its mustache snaking out and reaching to tap her head, right between her eyes.

Her vision flashed suddenly with a vivid image. A man on a crimson dragon, bearded and ancient, with kind eyes and a golden crown.

She gasped with understanding as the contact broke.

"You're Avatar Roku's animal guide! Like Appa is to me!" she exclaimed. A thread of hope was beating in her heart again. Finally there was _something,_ someone else with her in this waking void. Someone connected to the very person she wanted to talk to. "I need to save my friend, and I don't know how," she explained quickly. "Is there some way for me to talk to Roku?"

The dragon shifted, lowering its back, curling around her.

Relief shuddered through her. She clambered on, tripping over herself.

One last anxious look was paid towards the village, where Katar's back was slowly fading from view.

"I'll be back, Katar," she promised, her voice a whisper. "I'll find Sokki."

The dragon lifted off and took flight, leaving the village far behind.

-ATLA-

His eyes were beginning to burn from constantly straining towards the horizon. A thousand anxious thoughts danced around his head. And the ever-familiar guilt.

Here he was, waiting helplessly, while his sister and Angka were both gone.

He shook himself, his fist clenching, tightening the water spiral he'd been nervously curling and uncurling for hours.

With a sigh he let it drop into the dirt. Katar took a last look towards the setting sun, peering through the rays for some kind of glimpse of... _something._

Reluctantly, he started to turn to go back inside.

Then his ears caught a sound. There was a flutter of something on the air.

Katar whipped back around, a sudden lightness shooting through his heart. He gasped as his straining eyes caught sight of a familiar floating air glider.

His feet were already moving, propelling him down the stairs and across the space towards her as she dropped to the ground.

His arms flung around her, drawing out a strained grunt.

"You're back!" he cried happily, enveloping her small frame in his arms like she was the most precious thing in the world to him.

She was safe. She was _here_. Things would be okay.

He almost never wanted to let her go, but after a moment his joy dimmed. He released her, stepping back as he realized she'd returned alone.

"Where's Sokki?" he asked, the worry creeping through his heart again.

Angka's face fell. "I... I'm still working on that," she said. "I'm not sure... yet."

Katar's chest panged but he pushed it down with an optimistic smile and a soft, quick touch to her cheek. "Well, I'm still glad _you're_ okay. I took Appa out to search for you and you weren't _anywhere._ "

Angka scratched at her cheek. "Yeeeaaah, I kinda got stuck in the Spirit World for a bit," she said sheepishly.

His brain latched onto that. "Do you think that's where Sokki and the other villagers are?"

She pursed her lips in thought. "Maybe." Her eyes lifted with conviction. "But I think I'm going to have to confront Hei Bai again to find out."

Katar sighed heavily, a million objections and anxieties chasing each other inside his skull.

Aloud he said only, "I was afraid of that."

-ATLA-

He hated this, he hated this, he absolutely _hated_ this.

His hands gripped the edge of the windowsill, staring out after her as she waited, alone, for the spirit monster to reappear.

He'd wanted to go with her. Desperately. Feverishly.

But she'd insisted.

" _I have an idea,"_ she'd told him. _"Someone I met in the Spirit World taught me a trick that might work."_

Her eyes had borne into him, convicted.

" _But if it doesn't work I..."_

She'd swallowed, hesitating.

" _...I don't want you to get taken too,"_ she'd finished softly.

Katar was jolted from his memory by a sudden fearful _crash!_ His heart spiked into his throat as he saw the black and white creature smashing through a building to Angka's side, bellowing its awful cry right in front of her.

For a split second the spirit monster wore pointed red armor and loomed over a female figure in blue and he was tiny and helpless and—

And then it was gone, as Angka pushed herself up into the air, launching towards the creature's head, palm outstretched.

Its skin glowed white where her hand made contact. And all of a sudden... it stopped.

Angka dropped to her feet in front of it. Her voice carried faintly across the distance. He couldn't hear what she was saying, but she drew something out of her pocket, placing it on the ground in front of the creature, who picked it up and looked at it quizzically.

The sight of it grew blurry.

Katar blinked and its form had changed. Now it seemed no more than a large, lumbering panda, placid smile on its face.

Hei Bai turned and padded out through the gates, bamboo springing up in his footsteps.

A moment or two later, people started wandering out from where he'd disappeared. And among them...

"Sokki!" he called, darting out from inside the building.

His sister looked dazed and very confused but unhurt. She even hugged him back a little when he flung his arms around her.

"What happened?" she asked.

Once again, Katar found it difficult to detach from his tight hold, so relieved that she was alive and well. He would never complain about her bad breath or insults again. "You were trapped in the Spirit World for twenty-four hours!" he explained breathlessly. "How are you feeling?"

Sokki got an uncomfortable look.

"...Like I seriously need to use the bathroom," she gawped, her eyes wide, quickly excusing herself.

Katar made a face as he watched her go, then turned to gaze in awe at Angka.

She stood in the midst of the returning villages, small but straight-backed. She looked almost as amazed by what she'd done as he was.

He walked over, reaching to put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm... I'm so proud of you Angka," he said, reverently. "You figured out what to do all on your own."

She turned her head aside with a smile. "Actually, I _did_ have a little help." Her smile faded. "And... there's something else."

The way her tone turned sent tingles of apprehension through him.

"What is it?" he asked.

She scraped the dirt with the end of her glider. "I think I found a way to contact Roku," she said. "There's a crescent-shaped island, and if I go there on the solstice, I'll be able to speak with him."

Katar's eyes widened slightly. "That's... that's good!"

Her serious expression didn't change.

"Isn't it?" he added uncertainly.

"Creepy, but definitely great," Sokki piped in, walking up, having returned from the bathroom. She stopped, crossing her arms. Her eyes turned severe. "Except the solstice is tomorrow. Where exactly is this island?" she demanded.

Angka sighed heavily. "You're not gonna like it," she warned them.

-ATLA-

She was right. They didn't.

But they followed her into the borders of the Fire Nation nonetheless.

"All right, I think they're coming," Sokki said, peeling her ear away from the corner, around which they could hear the frantic footsteps of the other Fire Sages. "Hurry everyone! Get in position!"

Angka darted to the large door, lifting Momo up and letting the lemur crawl up through the brass pipes, making his way into the chamber beyond. Shyu waited anxiously to one side, ready to play his part in the ruse.

As Angka rushed back towards the pillars to find a good hiding spot, she slowed, skidding on her feet and stopping in front of Katar.

"If this works—and even if it doesn't—thank you," she told him. Her eyes shone with emotion. "For coming with me."

Katar nodded once, sharply. "I wasn't going to let you do this alone," he said. "We're with you to the end."

"That's a nice sentiment, Katar, but seriously— _hurry!_ " Sokki hissed at him from her hiding place.

Angka and Katar broke apart. They quickly took up their hiding places.

The other Fire Sages piled into the chamber. Shyu pointed at the door, shouting about how the Avatar was inside. Momo's shadow creeping under the doorway reinforced the illusion and, just as planned, the Fire Sages lit up the pipes, unsealing the door for real themselves.

Katar sprang into action the moment they realized the ruse, leaping forward and yanking the nearest Sage's headdress panels over his face, putting him to the floor, holding him there.

Shyu called out to Angka once he and Sokki had subdued their own prisoners.

"Angka, now!"

There was no response.

A creeping anxiety scraped up the inside of his ribcage. Katar unstuck his throat, calling out.

"A-Angka, now's your chance!"

For half a second more there was still no movement from around her pillar.

And then she emerged, pushed into view by a familiar scarred face and royal armor.

His heart stuttered to a stop.

Zuka had hold both of the airbender's arms, keeping them pinned behind her back, almost doubling the smaller girl over. Her eyes were wild and fierce as she declared, "The Avatar's coming with me!" She shouted an order for the doors to be closed and started pushing Angka towards the nearby stairwell.

Katar couldn't hear past the roaring in his ears, barely registered the Fire Sage turning the tables on him and grabbing his arm, twisting it. All he saw was Angka. Angka in the grip of Zuka. Angka being taken away.

No no no _no_ , repeated in his thoughts. Zuka was taking her. She was _hurting_ her. Angka's face was screwed tightly, bravely. She was trying not to cry from the pain the pressure on her arms must have been putting her in.

Zuka was forcing her down the steps now. In a few moments Angka would be out of sight. Gone forever.

Just like—

A surge of adrenaline swelled through him. He slammed a hard elbow into the gut of the Fire Sage holding him and as his wrist was released used the same motion to lash his hand out, a lancing ribbon of water bursting from his hip canteen and snaking forward.

The tendril was messy, wobbling and breaking even as it stretched, but it was just enough, smacking Zuka across the back of her head, distracting her.

Her hold slipped for just a moment.

It was all Angka needed to slip her foot behind the princess's ankle and trip her up, send her toppling down the stairs as she shoved away.

Katar watched Angka run towards them, vaguely feeling hands on his shoulders, his back being shoved against the pillar.

"Go!" he shouted, as the pinch of a chain wound around him.

Angka checked herself, switching directions at once, frantically leaping on light feet and bursts of wind for the quickly-closing door.

Katar's heart screamed until he saw her slip through it just in time, the metal lock latching behind her.

He slumped against the pillar, sagging in the chains.

She was in. She was safe.

It didn't even matter what happened to him now.

"She made it," he breathed, exhaustion stealing the strength from his voice.

-ATLA-

The Fire Nation soldiers waited outside the chamber. Katar resisted the urge to scream and curse at them.

_Leave her alone!_ he wanted to shout. After all their efforts he couldn't stand it if he had to watch her fall into the enemy's hands again.

The minutes stretched out, thick with tension. Nothing could be heard from the other side of the door, and Katar didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.

He wished their father were there.

The wind outside suddenly picked up. A rushing roar sounded and eerie light spilled from around the cracks of the door, near-blinding.

His heart was pounding. There was a familiar tingle on his arms. Spiritual energy was moving all around them. Even the Fire Nation soldiers gave pause.

The door cracked open.

For a moment all he could see was a pair of glowing white eyes.

"Ready..." barked the Fire Nation commander.

Katar's fear and panic nearly choked him. "No!" he cried. _"Angka!"_

"Fire!"

The soldiers spewed flames towards the gap and Katar watched in horror, wanting to turn away but unable to, his head shrieking. A memory threatened to press against his consciousness, echoes beginning to sound in his ears.

But then then flames swirled around and coalesced, then parted to reveal not the small form of an airbender, but the billowing red robes of an old man with a golden crown, and the breath in Katar was stolen away in awe.

_Avatar Roku._

A casual motion of his hand sent the flames rolling back towards them and all of a sudden the chains were melting, and the soldiers were fleeing, and the ground was shaking, molten lava spewing up from the floor and Sokki shielding him with her arms.

Shyu telling them they had to escape.

"Not without Angka," he growled determinedly.

He strained his eyes.

The chaos quieted for a moment. The mists drew back, surrounding Roku, veiling him from sight and then vanishing around Angka's small frame as she tilted, weak-kneed, onto the floor.

His relief cooled through his whole body as he and Sokki ran up to take her arms and reclaim her.

_She's safe_ , repeated in his head.

It would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The overarching plot arc has been established, we met Avatar Roku, we've gotten glimpses of Katar's traumatic backstory, and he seems to be getting awfully protective of his little airbender, lol. Also Angka is becoming quite concerned with Katar's emotional well-being and likes his hugs, apparently.
> 
> Katar finally gets to act to save her! I figured I'd let the boy catch a little break from constantly feeling useless all the time. I think that plot thread is going to slowly start disappearing the better he gets at waterbending. With occasional callbacks.
> 
> See you next week readers!


	10. Pressure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weekly chapter update! A day late but still.
> 
> Enjoy!

Her nerves were buzzing.

 _Nine months until the end of summer_ , she recited inside her head for the hundredth time. _Nine months. I've already mastered airbending so there's just three more elements to master. Nine months, three elements. That's one element per three months. That's doable, right?_

Oh spirits it _had_ to be doable. Because the world was doomed otherwise.

 _Okay so, I completely master one element in three months, three times. That can't be too hard. I mean sure it's never been done before_ , the hysterical thought chased around in her tingling skull, _and every other Avatar before me has taken years to master just one element but—Ohhhh..._ She gave a whimpering moan, her hands coming up over her ears. _I can't do this! This is not possible!_

She paced back and forth across Appa's back, anxiety driving her heart in a racing, erratic rhythm.

"What am I gonna do, what am I gonna do, what am I gonna do?" she whispered in panic.

"Oh for goodness sake..." Sokki groaned up from where she was steering Appa. _"Sit down_. We are going to hit a bump and you are going to go flying off!" she warned sternly.

"I can't do this!" she cried, her high and pitched, eyes pinching hopelessly. She spun in tight circles back and forth. "How am I supposed to master all four elements before that comet arrives?!"

Sokki waved a hand. "Well let's see, you've pretty much mastered airbending and that only took you 112 years... I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer," she said, in what Angka _hoped_ was an encouraging tone.

But the reminder of how little time she had sent her head spinning into dizzy circles again.

She whined, whirling around and beginning to pace again. "I haven't even started waterbending and we're still weeks away from the North Pole!" Her fingers raked into her hair, tangling, tugging on the roots. "What am I gonna do?!" she moaned again, almost breathlessly.

A steady hand grabbed her wrist.

Angka stopped.

She turned her head and looked down at Katar, who was sitting there serenely, a patient smile on his face.

With a gentle tug he urged her to sit.

"Calm down," he told her. "It's going to be okay."

He said it with such conviction, and the look in his eyes shone with so much faith...

Angka slowly took a deep breath, feeling the tinny ring in her ears fade away and the tension in her shoulders uncurl a bit.

She still felt wound-up, but the panic wasn't beating on her eardrums and clanging around the insides of her skull anymore, at least.

He'd pulled her hands into his, his fingers warm and soft. She stared down at her lap.

 _If... if Katar thinks things will be okay... maybe I can believe it too,_ she thought.

She exhaled, anxiety leaving her body and flying away.

His hands squeezed hers reassuringly.

"If you want, I can try and teach you some of the stuff I know," he offered.

She looked up. "You'd do that?" she asked, hopeful.

He nodded, smiling again. He turned to look towards the side, crawling to the edge of Appa's saddle, and Angka followed. "We'll need to find a good source of water first," he said, studying the ground far below.

Angka's shoulder brushed his as she joined him, looking for patches of water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angka is feeling more than a little anxiety about the looming threat that is her upcoming confrontation with Ozai, but thankfully Katar has some encouraging words for her. And hand-holding. XD
> 
> More "Waterbending Scroll" material is planned for the next chapter and then we'll continue on our merry way through Season One.


	11. Frustrations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many apologies dear readers, I missed last week's update because I was just so busy with other things. But here we are, a nice juicy chapter that I hope you all enjoy.

He was _useless._

Katar snarled in frustration as his wobbly half-formed water whip broke cohesion _again,_ falling back down into the pond.

The water splashed and rippled, loud in the quiet-sounding night.

His fists curled at his sides and he slowly drew in a long breath.

He had to get this. Just once. He _had_ to.

He tried again, moving his hands in a semblance of the motions depicted in the scroll.

Raise, curl back, shift balance—

_Splut!_

His grip slipped and the water splashed back down.

He wanted to scream. Angka had made this look so _easy_ when she had done it earlier that afternoon.

Thinking of that brought a sharp stab of guilt into his chest. He had snapped at her, actually yelled in her face, angry at his inability to get this one simple-looking bending move and taking it out on her.

-ATLA-

" _See Katar? You just gotta shift your weight through the stances," she was telling him, effortlessly performing the move with practiced perfection. "Keep your feet steady and_ _—"_

" _I know what I'm doing!" he bit, suddenly and unexpectedly harsh. "I don't need your help!" Fuming hot, a red haze around his head, he continued, "If I can't even get one thing by myself without you having to hold my hand through it what_ _ **good am I?!**_ _"_

_He stopped at the expression on her face. She looked stung, her eyes watering and her lip quivering as if he had slapped her._

_The anger left him in a rush._

" _Oh gosh..." he whispered, horrified. He held up his hands as if to reach for her. "Angka, I... I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you... I don't know what came over me..."_

_She wiped at her eyes with a sniffle. "It's okay," she told him, flashing a brave smile._

" _No, no it's not," Katar countered, placing his hands on her shoulders, his face twisting when she flinched. "But I promise, it won't happen again." Urgently he let go and went over to the scroll and rolled it up, handing it to her quickly. "Here. This is yours. I don't want to have anything to do with it anymore."_

-ATLA-

He'd made her _cry._ And he hadn't even kept his promise, sneaking the scroll out of her bag and sneaking off in the middle of the night to try again. (And again, and again.)

He was _useless._

He let his hands fall to his side, exhaling in a long breath.

_Calm down,_ he told himself. _Focus._

He was about to try again when a strange metallic _thud!_ sounded in the distance. Katar stopped, turning around, some warning sense tingling in the air around him.

He stepped over to the bushes, pushing aside several branches to see farther down the river.

His breath caught.

There was a Fire Nation cutter craft parked on the beach.

Immediately he thought of Angka and his sister, sleeping unknowingly back at the campsite, and backed away, turning to run, to go warn them.

He stopped suddenly, jerking back before he could smack face-first into the figure before him, tall and imposing, His fear spiked as he recognized one of the pirates they'd stolen the scroll from.

The man caught him by the wrist as he was trying to run, almost easily pulling him back.

"No!" Katar yelled, summoning a water tendril from the river, twisting it up to smack the pirate in the face. "Let go of me!"

He did, sputtering as the water hit his nose and chin. Katar stumbled away, his only thought to _run_ , but he hadn't even made it more than a few steps before another tall figure loomed in front of him.

He gasped, his wrists caught again, squeezed in a crushingly strong grip, looking up in terror at golden eyes glaring out of a scarred visage at him.

"Don't worry about the pirates," a growling female voice threatened. Zuka's eyes were dangerous and narrow as she told him, "It's _me_ you should be afraid of."

And he was. And he wished desperately that Angka was there.

-ATLA-

The fear wouldn't stop churning through his stomach, but he hid it well under a stubborn veneer of defiance.

He was surrounded by pirates and Fire Nation soldiers, his hands bound behind him around the trunk of a small tree. His only consolation was that they hadn't found Angka already. There was a chance he could still protect her, so long as he didn't tell them where she was.

He _really_ hoped they weren't going to try torturing the information out of him.

Zuka was standing in front of him, her cold, even glare firmly in place. She crossed her arms.

"Tell me where she is, and I won't hurt you or your sister," she demanded.

Katar shot furious eyes at her.

"Go jump in the river," he growled.

Her mouth tightened. For half a second Katar wondered if she was going to get angry and hit him.

But then her face softened a little. She stepped towards him, her arms outstretching.

"Try to understand," she said. "I need to capture her to restore something I've lost."

"What's that, your skincare regimen?" Katar muttered, not looking at her.

" _My honor_ , _"_ Zuka said through gritting teeth, her appeasing tone faltering a moment. It was back shortly as she said, "Perhaps in exchange I can restore something _you've_ lost."

She drew something out from her sleeve with a flourish, brandishing it in front of his eyes.

"I'm sure your sister must be missing this."

Katar gasped, the moonlight catching on the blue pendant and reflecting in his eyes. "That's mine!" he cried, straining forward, the ropes twisting on his wrists. "Give it back!"

Zuka glanced between him and the necklace dangling in her fingers, confusion and something else—Chagrin? Disgust?—rearranging her expression.

"Yours?" she repeated disbelievingly, her tone laced with a faint hint of revulsion.

Katar glared. "It belonged to my mother," he said. "How did you get it?" he demanded.

"Well I didn't steal it," Zuka muttered, shoving it back out of sight. Her pleasantries were gone as she faced him again. "Tell me. Where she. Is," she emphasized, every word threatening.

_Fat chance,_ he thought.

" _No."_

Zuka simmered, but now she had other things to worry about, as the pirate captain was stepping forward.

"Enough of this necklace garbage! You promised the scroll!"

Zuka produced it, holding it over a flaming hand. "I wonder how much this is worth," she mused, to the immediate protest of the pirates.

Katar's heart pulled down, sinking with guilt. That _blasted_ scroll. The thing that had started all this. Because he just _had_ to take it, just _had_ to be good at _something_ for once in his life and thought he needed it to help make him better.

And not only had it _not_ done that, _not_ provided the magical technique or wisdom that would break through his inadequacy and make him a better waterbender, but it had caused conflict between him and the very person he was trying to protect. And now it had even put her in danger.

He was going to hate himself for a long time for this one.

He slumped his head back against the tree, his eyes and mouth twisting as he watched the pirates trudge off to look for Angka and Sokki.

-ATLA-

It was agony seeing her in the hands of the pirates and knowing it was his fault she was there. So when things turned into chaos, the Fire Nation soldiers and pirates turning on each other for possession of the prize, his only thought—once Momo had bitten through the ropes holding him—was to get her and his sister out of there.

He rushed into the smoke, calling for them.

"Angka! Sokki! Where are you?"

"Over here!" Angka replied, her young voice carrying over the sounds of melee combat.

"Where?" Sokki yelled, sounding flustered. "I can't see a thing!"

"Follow my voice!" Angka told her.

Katar ran through the mist, ducking and dodging pirates and Fire Nation weapons until he spotted a glimpse of orange fluttering around in the haze. He reached out in relief, grabbing her wrist, pulling her away from the fight and towards safety.

His foot caught on something on the ground and he nearly faceplanted into the dirt.

"Ow!" came Sokki's indignant protest. She stood up from where Katar had almost tripped over her, crawling out of the smoke. "Would you watch where you're stepping?"

Katar rolled his eyes and grabbed her wrist as well. "Come on!" he urged.

They ran for the pirates' wooden junk, beached just a ways down the river. Katar dropped their hands, placing his palms on the prow.

"Help me get this boat in the water so we can get out of here!"

The two girls took up places on either side of him, pushing with all their might. All three of them struggled to budge the boat even an inch closer into the water.

Finally they gave up and stepped back, panting hard.

"We need a team of rhinos to budge this ship!" Sokki complained, rubbing splinters out of her palms.

Angka was looking pensively up at the boat.

"A team of rhinos..." she said.

She looked significantly at Katar.

"...or two waterbenders," she finished with a smile.

The words squeezed his heart with a warm thrill and his wide eyes almost watered.

She believed in him.

A swell of confidence and hope rose up in him. If Angka believed he could do it, then he certainly give it his all.

He took up position opposite her, and with a small nod, they slowly started raising the tide higher and higher.

The boat creaked and groaned as it lifted off the sand. Katar could hardly cover his elation.

It was working. He was bending.

He was a waterbender.

The ship slid into the water, and Katar almost whooped in victory. He straightened, motioning for the girls and Momo to follow.

"Everybody in!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Katar is _finally_ working past his cycle of self-hatred and feelings of inadequacy (good lord it feels like it's been taking for _ever_ ssskjfhkjh) and getting better at his waterbending thanks to some heartwarming words from Angka, and Zuka has... _many_ questions about Katar's choice in jewelry lol.
> 
> I know it feels like I've been treading and retreading the same ground with Katar and him feeling useless and weak but I think this is definitely a turning point for his character. Katara really started getting good at waterbending after this episode, after _her_ many initial failures and awkward attempts, so of course it had to be a benchmark for Katar as well. I cannot wait to start exploring his growing confidence and inner strength.
> 
> Aaaaand next chapter we will start to see some things developing on Angka's side. Looking forward to that.
> 
> See you next week readers!


	12. Jealous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weekly chapter update! Have a bit of Angka focus. Couldn't resist sneaking some more Katar in there too, sue me I love the kid.

Angka sat quietly, hands in her lap, fingers braiding thin strands of cord together. The campfire popped and snapped, the light chatter of the Freedom Fighters drifting around the circle.

She glanced up briefly, looking around the group. At least a dozen girls ranging in age from eighteen to eight, and one very short, very fierce-looking shaggy-haired boy with a painted face. Jet was at the head of the table, sipping casually from her drink cup. Katar was fidgeting next to her, his eyes averted bashfully.

Jet said something that made Katar look up, and the boy beamed widely, flashing a broad smile.

Angka felt a tiny prick in her heart and looked back down at her project.

Her hands stilled and she stared at the strands.

She wished she could make Katar smile like that.

Quickly, she shook her head, furiously braiding the cords again. They twisted between her fingers, rubbing against her skin, distracting her from the stray thoughts that had been creeping through her head more and more as the night went on.

She didn't know where they were coming from. Was there something wrong with her? Was she ill?

Yeah. That had to be it.

_I better go get some water, wash my hands,_ she thought idly, getting up from her seat and hurrying off, looking for the group's water supply.

The cold water that she splashed across her face and neck didn't seem to do anything to cool the weird heat in her face. Angka gripped both sides of the water barrel and sighed at her reflection.

She straightened, wandering back through the trees. She didn't return to the table just yet, looking around for where Sokki had gotten to. The older girl had been extraordinarily sulky—well, more so than usual—and keeping to herself on the fringes of the firelight.

Angka found her momentarily, her back against the tree she leaned on, arms crossed and scowling out at the forest beyond.

"Hey Sokki," she greeted. She strode up to the Water Tribe girl with what she hoped was casual nonchalance. "So... what do you think? The Freedom Fighters are pretty cool, huh?"

Sokki huffed. "I'm trying _not_ to think about them," she muttered.

"You're not still mad about Jet showing you up when she rescued us from those Fire Nation soldiers are you?" Angka asked.

"No." After a moment, Sokki corrected, "Okay, yes, but that's _really_ not relevant."

Angka made a doubtful noise. "Nnnmm, it sort of is," she pointed out. "She _did_ save our lives back there and, well..." She hesitated uncomfortably. "...you haven't exactly been grateful about it."

"Don't tell me you're taken in by her whole 'I'm so noble and amazing' act too," Sokki groaned.

She blinked. "What act?" she asked, genuinely confused.

Sokki uncurled her arms, gesturing agitatedly. "The way she's all charming and smooth-talking, like she's covering up something she doesn't want you to see." She shoved her arms back together, curling them tightly. "I'm telling you, there's something off about her."

Angka restrained herself from making a crack about Sokki's instincts or from arguing that Jet just seemed so _nice._ Sure her chest clenched every time Jet smiled at Katar and something in the pit of her stomach had felt weirdly sick for a while but that was because she was still jumpy from the ambush they had stumbled into that morning.

"Katar likes her," she pointed out, feeling that weird churn in her gut again as she said it.

Sokki's face twisted with chagrin. "Yeah I worry about that," she sighed. She looked across the clearing, watching her brother fumble all over himself as he tried to eat, sneaking glances at Jet. "I'm afraid he might be thinking with his little head on that one."

"His what?" asked Angka, eyes squinching.

The Water Tribe girl quickly waved her off, a mortified look crossing her face. "Uh, never mind! Anyway—" she said, straightening. "—we're not staying here any longer than we need to. Agreed?"

Angka scuffed the dirt with her toe. "Yeah... agreed."

The words pulled out of her reluctantly. She _liked_ it here. The Freedom Fighters' secret base was really fun, and it was nice to find a place actively fighting back against the Fire Nation.

But...

Angka's fingers wrung together in front of her. Her gaze was on her feet, her chin hanging.

"Sokki?" she called timidly.

Sokki didn't reply, but Angka felt her shift and turn to acknowledge her.

Her cheeks were hot and her bangs drooped into her eyes.

"Do... do you think Jet is... prettier than me?" she asked quietly.

The older girl tilted her head curiously. "What do you mean?"

It sounded so stupid now that she'd said it. "I mean..." Angka continued, fidgeting, rubbing her thumb between her fingers. "...she's just so brave and confident and... grown-up..."

"Where's this coming from?"

"I dunno," Angka sighed, and she didn't, really, it was hard to articulate why she cared. "I guess... she's just been fighting the Fire Nation since she was little and now she's a leader who inspires others to join her cause while I was stuck sleeping in an iceberg and..." Her head dropped even lower. "...I guess I just feel kind of lame in comparison."

"Yeah she's inspiring a lot of that," Sokki muttered, almost inaudibly. Louder, she said, "Look, honest opinion? I don't trust her, and I _especially_ don't trust her around my brother." She leaned a shoulder back against the tree trunk. "But I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for now."

"Okay..." Angka inhaled slowly, raising her head. "Then... I guess I can too."

They wandered back to join the others, and Angka took her seat and tried not to look at how Katar's eyes shone at Jet or how his smile was so easy around her, busying herself with the braided cord.

-ATLA-

"Nice bracelet."

Katar started, his hands closing on the handmade shell pendant necklace that had replaced his mother's, looking up to see Jet shadowing the doorway of the hut. His heart stuttered at the sight of her, framed in pale golden light from the early morning, her long, frizzled brown hair like a halo around her head.

"Necklace, actually," he corrected. He held it up with a smile. "Angka made it for me," he told her.

"Mmm-hmm." Seemingly losing interest, Jet tilted her head over her shoulder. "C'mon, it's time to go," she urged.

Katar eagerly scrambled up, following Jet as she led him and Angka up to a ridge overlooking the valley. Angka trailed a few paces behind him the whole time, some uncertain expression on her face. Katar peered back at her in concern. He wanted to ask what was wrong.

"Almost there," Jet said, interrupting his thoughts.

Katar turned forward again, speaking up.

"Jet? I'm really sorry for how Sokki's been acting," he said, apologizing on behalf of his sister's paranoid outburst a day ago. She'd accused the girl of being a thug and a bully, attacking an innocent old man. It had sounded so cartoonishly evil that Katar had outright snorted at her, but she couldn't be dissuaded from her loud opinions and finally just stormed off.

Jet gave a nonchalant shrug. "No worries. She already apologized," she told them.

That made Angka startle behind him. "Really?" she said, surprise lacing her tone. _"Sokki_ apologized? _"_

Jet swiveled around, one hand on her hip. "Yeah, I was surprised too," she quipped, grinning lazily. "I got the sense that maybe you talked to her or something?"

Katar frowned. "Yeah, I did."

She winked at him. "Guess something you said got through to her."

His pulse skipped, his trepidations vanishing.

Jet swept her arm around them, indicating the area. Steam was billowing up from several pocked cracks in the ground.

"All right, we're here," she announced. "Underground water is trying to escape from these vents. I need you guys to help it along."

Katar eyed the vents with doubt.

"I've never used bending on water I can't see," he said. His hand drifted up to touch his neck uncertainly. "I don't know..."

He felt Jet's hands on his shoulders suddenly, warm and encouraging, and she was smiling as she brought her face intimately close.

"Katar... you can do this," she said.

He looked down, his body thrilling, a blush creeping through his cheeks.

"What about me?" came a flat interruption from Angka. They both glanced up to see her staring at them, her arms crossed sourly.

Jet stepped back, extending a hand and her winsome smile out to Angka. "I _know_ the Avatar can do this," she added smoothly.

Angka looked skeptical a moment or two more, but then accepted the words, moving to take up position next to one of the vents.

_Wonder what that's about?_ Katar wondered as he stepped up opposite her.

-ATLA-

He was such an _idiot_.

Katar craned his head up towards the trees, struggling to keep Angka and Jet in view, as he ran along the ground after them.

How had not seen it? Was a charming smile and a well-timed compliment all it took to completely dazzle his sense?

Jet's veneer of heroic rebellion seemed paper-thin to him now. It had disappeared under the anger and hatred in her voice, the way she'd snarled when she grabbed Angka's glider away from her, attacked Angka to prevent her from warning the Earth Nation village she was about to drown. Jet had pleaded with him to understand, and all that repeated in his head was _Liar_ , _liar, lair,_ as he _shoved_ her away with a tendril of water from his jug _._

She had _lied_ to him, she had _used_ him, had probably done something terrible to his sister, and now she was going to hurt Angka.

Hot fury roiled within him. He pumped his arms and legs, rushing forward as he saw Angka take a hard hit from a tree branch and crumple to the ground, next to her ruined glider.

He saw red.

As Jet dropped down next to Angka's prone form, raising her hooked swords, Katar let loose, pulling wave after wave from the creek behind him and _slamming_ them into Jet, pushing her back until she was pinned up against a tree trunk.

His anger channeling into calm determination, Katar blew out, concentrating. He'd never tried to freeze water since the South Pole, but he knew he could do it.

Slowly, the water still dripping down Jet's form solidified, heat sapping out and the liquid growing hard, turning into ice, creeping up her body until she was encased from neck to toe.

Katar exhaled, dropping his hands in grim satisfaction. Angka rose to her feet shakily, grabbing her glider and scurrying behind him, and he'd never felt more powerful.

Or more hurt.

-ATLA-

The ride away on Appa wasn't _quite_ as awkward as it could have been. Sokki got her 'I told you so' out of the way quickly, Katar accepted it with a tired sigh but no protest, and Angka sat cuddled with Momo for a long while, before she got up and crossed over to Katar.

"I'm sorry about Jet," she said quietly. "I really wanted her to be our friend too."

Katar sighed. "No chance of that happening now," he muttered.

He met her eyes with a fiercely intense expression.

"She tried to hurt you. I'll _never_ forgive her for that."

A funny little flip seemed to go through her heart. Angka tried to keep her face neutral. She really needed to figure out what was wrong with her, she was starting to worry a little.

She brushed her hair over her shoulder.

"At least Sokki's instincts were good for something," she quipped.

He grinned. "For once," he joked back.

"You guys know I can hear you," Sokki called from her position on Appa's head.

"We love you, Sokki!" Angka chirped in a teasing sing-song.

"Yeah yeah," she huffed. "Next time we _don't_ let our goo-goo eyes distract us okay?"

That drew Katar into a heated debate with her about how much he was _not_ remotely interested in Jet, which Angka enjoyed listening to for a moment before losing herself in her thoughts and the gentle sway of Appa's flight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angka gets mildly jealous of Jet and starts to feel really funny in her chest around Katar for reasons unfathomable, has inadequacy issues that are starting to manifest regarding her leaving the world out to dry for a hundred years, and Sokki really really does not like Jet, like, AT ALL, lol.
> 
> So! I actually found it quite refreshing that Aang had zero hostile reaction to Jet in his introductory episode and didn't get jealous in the least. But I knew I wanted Katar being flustered and blushy around Jet to awaken Some Kind Of Feelings in Angka. The solution I found was mostly downplaying the jealousy aspect and having Angka look at Jet and being all "Wow she's really pretty." and feeling extremely ordinary and plain by comparison as well as unheroic for running away when the world needed her, while Jet was off liberating towns for a supposedly righteous cause. (And that of course will be expanded and followed through in subsequent chapters, especially once we get to "The Storm".)
> 
> I think it works like this.
> 
> Interlude chapter up next for a small break and then we're back to the action. Thanks for reading!


	13. Interlude: Socialites

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My sincerest apologies for missing a week dear readers, I was going through An Ordeal. But things are better now (even if I'm really bored from the isolation due to all this coronavirus panic) so I got caught up on my writing and managed to knock this one out in like two hours.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Takes place about two years after the show's end.

These robes were _killing_ her.

Angka tugged at the too tight stiff collar, wishing for the millionth time she could have worn Air Nomad clothes to this event. But Zuka had insisted that traditional Fire Nation ornamentation was required so here she was, stuck in a high-collared thick wool monstrosity that itched and pulled in all the wrong ways around her awkward growing body.

She yanked at the high-waisted sash again, trying to loosen the knot even just a little bit. Glancing around she sighed, watching a million different conversations take place around her.

Zuka was doing most of the talking, as per usual. She was so much better at this kind of politicking and hobnobbing with government officials, and Angka envied how calm and serene and collected the older girl seemed, at least outwardly, even though Angka knew Zuka was as much a roiling ball of insecurity and nerves as she was.

As if sensing her thoughts, Zuka glanced aside at her, giving her a nudge with her foot.

"You're doing fine."

"Really?" Angka questioned, voice flat and unconvinced. "Because I feel like I've barely said anything useful in like three hours."

"Half of these gatherings are just smiling and nodding politely while dignitaries prattle on and explain in intimate detail all the minutia of their health problems and family dramas," Zuka whispered in aside to her. "If you're asked your opinion about something, answer honestly. Otherwise, just give people space to talk."

Angka slouched in boredom, wilting.

Zuka turned to the next person approaching them, her stoic expression transforming seamlessly into a genial smile.

"Lietutentant Rho, it's been a while. How is your wife?" she asked.

After a moment she pointedly elbowed Angka in the side.

Startling to attention, Angka quickly piped up and added, "Uh yeah, and you have those two twin daughters too right? Li Li and Ling So? How old are they now?"

The Fire Nation officer launched into a proud speech about his girls, gushing over how lovely they were growing up and how accomplished they were. It seemed to make him happy, so Angka just listened and didn't interrupt.

She tuned out about halfway through, though, her eyes wandering around the room.

She suddenly perked to attention when a herald spoke up over the chatter. He'd been announcing the arrival of guests all evening but this time what he said was:

"The emissaries from the Southern Water Tribe, daughter and son of Chief Hakoda!"

Angka gasped, standing on her tiptoes, craning to see around and over the crowd.

She spotted them at once, a flush of blue in the sea of red. Sokki was a picture of elegant winter beauty in her fur-lined dress and Katar...

She blushed slightly, feeling her cheeks warm.

His padded ocean-blue jacket looked... really nice and sharp on him.

They made their way over to the Fire Lady and Avatar, quickly weaving their way through the crowd. The dignitaries parted respectfully for them, and even Lieutenant Rho finished up his conversation and bade them goodbye, to allow the friends to speak with each other.

Angka beamed. Forgoing all formality she hopped up, throwing her arms around Katar to hug him tightly.

"Katar! It's so good to see you!" she cried.

He grinned, wrapping his soft sleeves around her and folding her in an embrace of quilted silk and fur.

Zuka peered past them with a frown. "Where's Toph?"

Sokki shrugged. "Said he couldn't make it. Something about hay fever or coming down with swamp flu." A little bit conspiratorially she added, "You ask me I think just he ran off on that road trip with Haruhi and Téa he's been threatening."

"Fine time for a vacation," Zuka grumbled.

Angka finally pulled back from her hug with Katar, brushing a hand behind her ear. "You look good," she told him shyly.

"You do too," he said.

"Really?!" she squeaked, delight bubbling up in her.

Zuka cleared her throat sharply.

Angka quickly rearranged herself into a formal demeanor. "May I be excused for a moment, Your Majesty? The emissary from the Southern Water Tribe and I have something important to discuss."

Zuka sighed heavily. "Fine," she relented. "Fine. But be back here in time for the spark lighting."

She nodded. "Of course."

The formality dropped off her as she reached forward and grabbed Katar's hand, and he was already pulling her off to a secluded corner of the room, near the open-air balcony.

The Fire Nation ruler rubbed her face tiredly. "I swear, she absolutely loses her entire head around him."

Sokki chuckled. "Oh you should see how dumb Katar gets about her. It's like he doesn't even know how to use words anymore."

"I believe it," Zuka replied dryly.

-ATLA-

The chatter of the room was a little dimmer here, a light breeze blowing in from the veranda that lifted away the stuffy incense scent of the ballroom. Angka faced him excitedly, grinning from ear to ear.

"You would not be _lieve_ how long this evening has been. I didn't think I could ever know so much about rheumatoid arthritis and herbal remedies for it in my _life!"_

"Welcome to politics," laughed Katar. "Ninety-percent meaningless small talk and maybe ten percent actual policy discussion. Dad always told us the relationship building was the more important part, letting people express themselves and feel important and listened to." He lowered his voice slightly. "But he did warn it it was usually really, really boring."

Angka giggled. "It's a little better now that you're here," she told him. "It's nice to see a friendly face."

"Zuka doesn't count?"

Angka seesawed a hand. "Eh."

He leaned back again, his eyes warm, the lights from the ballroom gleaming in them.

"You do look really beautiful, Angka. I mean it," he told her genuinely.

Suddenly she didn't feel awkward in her pinned up hair and heavy red robes anymore. Her spine went a little straighter and her heart swelled with some warm feeling.

She ducked her head, blushing again, touching one of the flower-shaped pins in her hair.

"Thanks..." she said quietly.

Katar glanced towards the crowded ballroom. "Can I hog you a little longer or do you need to go do some more polite Avatar smiling and nodding?"

Angka wove her fingers into his, squeezing gently.

"Just a little longer, okay?"

He smiled, letting her lean up against his arm as they turned to watch the stars for a moment.

"Okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tying a bit into Angka's insecurities of last chapter, Katar of course thinks she's a total babe and the two agree that politics are very, very boring.
> 
> I anticipate a lot of time to write this month so updates should be back on their regular schedule.


	14. Lonely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers! Been a while, I know. I was caught up with other projects.
> 
> But I'm here now with a chapter update, so I do hope you enjoy. Let's dive right into "The Storm", shall we?

Angka rubbed grit out of her eyes, yawning again. She leaned around the stall, peeking at her reflection in a glass plate hung up to catch the sun.

She frowned.

She looked awful. Lines and dark circles lining her eyelids, hair frizzy. She sighed, slumping against the wooden support, wishing she could close her eyes for just a minute and have a good hour's sleep without seeing... everything that had been causing her haggard appearance.

She smeared a hand over her face.

The anniversary was coming up, wasn't it? Was that why she had been replaying things over and over in her head?

"You all right?" a voice broke into her thoughts.

Angka shook herself, forcing a smile for Sokki. "Yeah... just haven't been sleeping that well lately."

"So I've noticed," Sokki drawled. Her eyes softening with concern she came around, dropping an arm across Angka's shoulders. "Are you _sure_ you don't wanna talk about it?" she asked the younger girl seriously.

Angka shook her head lightly. "Like, I told Katar this morning, I think I just need some rest."

"Hey," Sokki cautioned, taking both her shoulders and turning to face her. "Don't bottle things up. Katar can always tell and he's going to be _super_ annoying about making sure you're okay."

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked, a confused expression on her face.

"It's—" Sokki shook herself. "Never mind," she dismissed, stepping back. "Come on, let's not get too far behind."

They trotted to catch up to Katar, who was busy carefully considering a melon he was shaking.

"I dunno if I like the sound of that swishing," he told the vendor uncertainly.

"Swishing means it's ripe!" she insisted. "It's the ripe juices swishing around, huh?"

"I think it's true, Katar," Angka piped up. She beamed broadly at him, projecting a practiced happiness. "Swishing means it's ripe."

He smiled back at her, then turned sheepishly to the vendor.

"I just realized we're out of money anyway," he said, putting the melon back.

She huffed in disgust, turning away from them and shooing them with her hands.

The three of them trudged off, Sokki grumbling about her empty stomach and Katar quietly apologizing to Angka..

-ATLA-

"Out of food _and_ out of money," Sokki complained, when they stopped for a moment on the docks. "Now what are we supposed to do?"

"You could try using your womanly wiles on some poor sap," Katar suggested flatly. "Maybe flirt your way into getting us some food."

Sokki screwed up her face in disgust. "Ha ha wise guy, very funny, why don't _you_ flirt your way into getting us some food?"

Katar shrugged, open-palmed. "You're the one complaining."

"I could do it!" Angka suggested brightly.

" _No_ ," Katar said at once, sternly.

She wilted slightly. "But—"

Their conversation petered off as a loud argument from behind them drew their attention. An old man and woman were squaring off, their voices carrying across the dock.

"You shouldn't go out there! Please! The fish can wait!" the old woman was saying. "There's going to be a terrible storm!"

Angka gave a little flinch, her eyes darting nervously up towards the wide blue sky. The old couple's argument continued but it was noise in her ears, her mind drifting back to images from her dream. The looming thundercloud. The lightning flashing way too close. The feeling of being utterly _alone_.

She didn't pull out of it until she heard Sokki unexpectedly volunteer herself as the man's replacement fish-hauler.

 _What?_ she thought in confusion.

The question must have showed on her face, for when Sokki looked back at her and Katar she said, "What? A job means money and money means food, I see this as a completely viable solution!"

Katar sighed. "I hate it when you're right," he grumbled.

Angka didn't reply, her gaze drifting back towards the clear horizon, small anxious flickers in her heart.

-ATLA-

The flickers had become an outright churning.

Gray clouds were gathering over the ocean, tall and ominous-looking. It made Angka jittery just looking at them.

"Sokki, maybe this isn't such a good idea..." she said, fidgeting as Sokki helped the old fisherman load up his boat. She waved a hand towards the stormclouds. "Look at the sky."

Sokki shook her head. "I said I was gonna do this job. I can't back out just because of some bad weather," she said, taking some folded nets down below.

Angka bit her lip harshly, wanting to argue. Wanting to describe how terrifying it was to be in the heart of a raging typhoon, at the mercy of the wind and waves, buffeted in every direction by merciless rain.

Her skin could almost feel the cold lashing drops even now...

"The girl with the tattoos has some sense," the old woman snorted from her safe position on the docks. "You should listen to her," she huffed. She stormed off, walking stiff-backed away from the pier where the fisherman's boat was docked.

The old man paused a moment, eyes scrunching. "Girl with tattoos..." he repeated, standing up and turning around.

Angka waved shyly at the scrutinizing look he sent her way.

"Airbender tattoos..." the fisherman said, face changing with realization. "Well, I'll be a hogmonkey's uncle." He stepped off the boat, coming up to her and Katar on the pier, wrinkled brows narrow and tired eyes strangely piercing. "You're the Avatar, ain't ya?" he declared.

She felt Katar fluff up beside her as he declared with pride, "That's right!"

Angka smiled, then immediately stopped when the man scolded her for it.

"Well don't be so smiley about it!" he snapped. "The Avatar disappeared for a hundred years!"

She wilted slightly, throat dry as he loomed over her, slow-burning anger on his face and in his voice and stiff posture.

He jabbed a harsh finger into her chest.

"Ya turned your back on the world!" he growled.

She gasped and flinched back but Katar was already there, slapping the man's hand away.

"Don't yell at her!" he scolded. "Angka would never turn her back on anyone!"

The old man rolled his eyes and grumped something about imagining the last hundred years of war and pain and death and Katar yelled back at him for it but it was all static in her ears.

" _Angka... why did you disappear?"_

_The horrible guilt hitting her gullet. The way the corners of her eyes pulled._

" _I didn't mean to..." she said quietly._

She took several steps backwards without realizing it, even the passion in Katar's voice as he defended her fading into gray noise.

 _I didn't mean to,_ repeated inside her head as she softly got out her glider.

A small _whish!_ extended the fan folds.

_I didn't mean to._

She took to the air, letting the warm currents and her airbending lift her off the ground, over the village rooftops, out over the mountains.

_I'm sorry._

-ATLA-

Rain dripped off his clothes as he stepped through the cave entrance. Katar peered into the dim interior. Angka was a small ball curled up, her back to him, body posture morose and miserable.

"Angka?" he called.

She stirred a bit at the sound of his voice, though she didn't turn around.

"I'm sorry for running away..." she said quietly.

"It's okay," he jumped to reassure her. "That fisherman was a total jerk."

He waited to see her turn around, her face lighting up again, but all she did was continue sitting there.

"Actually... he was right," she told him.

Something stung in his heart at the thought of Angka believing the fisherman's harsh words about her. He stepped forward. "What do you mean?" he asked in concern.

She squeezed herself tighter, hugging her knees. "I don't wanna talk about it," she strained.

His chest wrenched. He made it to her side, coming around and kneeling down next to her, placing a hand gently on her shoulder.

"Does it have to do with your dream?" he asked.

She stayed quiet, her face gray and pinched.

His fingers squeezed a little tighter. "Come on.. talk to me," he urged.

She pulled her head up with a small sigh.

"Okay. It's kind of a long story though."

Katar glanced outside at the downpour. The once blue sky was now ashen gray, lashed with rain and flashing lightning. Appa and Momo both nosed their way into the cave, shaking themselves dry. "Well, we're not going anywhere for a while," he commented dryly.

The corners of her mouth twitched faintly at that, and she leaned contentedly into Appa's nose as the sky bison came up to nuzzle her.

Katar smiled and started to get up.

"I'm going to try to get a little fire going," he promised.

-ATLA-

When they were settled, a warm crackling fire heating their faces, damp clothes beginning to dry and Momo curled up comfortably in Angka's lap, Katar broached the subject again.

He poked sticks into the little blaze, glancing up at her. "So..." he began hesitantly, picking out what to say. "Why exactly do you think that old man was right when he said... what he said?" he asked. He tried not to add his scalding opinions about _what,_ precisely, the man had said, which he was still steaming about.

Angka glanced up from stroking Momo's back.

"I'm honestly not sure where to begin," she told him, looking a bit sheepish.

He shrugged. "Try from the beginning?" he suggested.

She inhaled slowly.

"Okay... that would probably be the day they told me I was the Avatar."

-ATLA-

_Giggles drifted up from their circle, as the girls huddled close together over something. Conspiratorial whispers drifted up from them._

" _Okay okay!" Angka piped up. "On three."_

_The girls scrambled around, two of them skitting off to the side, one ducking behind another as she stood in nervously excited anticipation._

" _One... two... three!" Angka counted, before sending a twisting burst of air into the standing girl's face._

_They all squealed as the miniature whirlwind blasted back the girl's long hair, twisting it around and around before fizzling out._

_She laughed, reaching a hand back to feel the twist._

" _It's actually not half-bad!" she declared. She pulled it up flat against the back of her skull. "Look, I could totally pin it up just like this!"_

_Angka grinned broadly. "Do me next!" she said._

_She reached for the band holding her long hair back and undid it, letting the brown locks spill down freely._

_A voice called down to them from the bridge above, interrupting them._

" _Angka?"_

_The girls parted, and Angka glanced up to see Nun Choenyi softly beckoning her to come._

" _Can we talk for a minute, sweetie?" she asked._

_Angka puzzled at the worried pinch in her guardian's expression, the tight concern in the nun's brown eyes. But she folded the hairband back around her hair dutifully._

" _I'll be right back," she promised her friends._

_She lifted herself up onto the bridge level with a puff of airbending. The bright smile on her faded a little as Choenyi merely motioned with her hand, already turning around._

" _Come with me," she urged. "We have some visitors."_

_Angka puzzled even more at that. Visitors?_

_She followed Choenyi to a central courtyard. Her steps slowed as she saw the orange-clad group clustered on one side. Her heart began to beat quicker._

_It was the Council of Monks from the Southern Air Temple. Angka had only seen them in person once or twice, at inter-temple Air Nomad celebrations, but from their bearing and high-ranking raiment, it could only be them._

_Her feet rooted in place when their murmuring ceased, and they all turned heads to look at her._

" _Am... I in trouble?" she asked nervously._

" _Oh no!" Monk Gyatso rushed to assure her, his wrinkled face spreading with a smile. "Quite the opposite in fact."_

_The head elder nudged his way forward through the midst of them._

" _Angka," he said. "We have something very important to tell you."_

_She tried to straighten a bit, look very attentive and polite. "Okay... What is it?"_

_He pinned her with a serious look._

" _You are the next Avatar."_

 _-_ ATLA-

Katar gaped in awe, his mouth open slightly.

"How did they know it was you?" he asked.

Angka fiddled with Momo's tail, running it through her fingers. "The toys I played with the most when I was little. I 'chose them out of thousands'," she explained, quoting what she'd been told. "They were relics that belonged to previous Avatars." She drew her legs up a little closer, careful not to squish the sleeping lemur in her lap. "Normally I'd have been told when I turned sixteen but..."

She bit her lip, remembering the dire words about rumors of war, trouble brewing on the horizon.

"Anyway," she dismissed. "After that... everything changed."

-ATLA-

_Angka flicked her staff idly at the pink blossoms scattered across the floor, sending them spinning up into the air. They floated back down slowly and she flicked them again, the normally delightful exercise not seeming to have any effect on her mood today._

" _Sweet pea?" Choenyi's voice called from just inside the courtyard._

_Angka looked up quickly. Her guardian and the other nuns had been in conference with the high elders all afternoon, deciding the next course of action for her now that she was out as the Avatar._

_She put away her staff, clasping it behind her in her hands as she came to attention._

" _So... did they make a decision?" she asked anxiously._

_Choenyi nodded. "They have." Her eyes lowered. "You'll be starting your Avatar training right away."_

" _Oh," she said, slumping a little. Her mind was still reeling with the whirlwind of it all. She tried to muster up a sliver of excitement at the prospect of learning waterbending, earthbending, all that, but her heart just didn't feel it. "I guess... I guess I thought I'd have more time to adjust."_

" _I know, honey," Choenyi said sympathetically, resting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I thought we'd have more time too." Straightening, she folded her hands back into her sleeves. "You'd better get packed up. You leave in the morning."_

_The words sent a jolt of alarm through her._

" _Wait, leave?" she repeated. Her eyes held tiny flickers of panic. "What am I leaving for? I thought I'd be doing my training here!"_

_Choenyi glanced to the side uncomfortably. "About that..."_

_Angka's hands gripped her staff a little tighter._

_Shaking herself, Choenyi continued. "I know you were supposed to transfer to the Western temple for the summer but..." She shook her head. "The monks think it will be safer if... if you stayed with them. At the Southern temple."_

_Angka felt her insides sinking._

" _What about all my friends?" she asked, softly. "My bison?"_

" _Appa will be going with you, of course," Choenyi rushed to assure her._

" _But no one else will," Angka concluded._

_A sad shake of the nun's head. "I'm afraid not."_

_Angka gave a long sigh, turning everything over in her head and her heart. Tumultuous emotion pulsed through her, and she recalled meditation lessons to calm her mind and put herself more at ease._

" _All right..." she said. "I understand."_

_Choenyi wrapped her up in an unexpected hug._

" _You're going to do great," she promised in a whisper._

_It was all Angka could do to keep from crumbling._

-ATLA-

Angka stared morosely into the fire. Telling the story had brought up old buried feelings. Grief, for the people she'd lost and would never see again. Guilt, for leaving them when they'd needed her.

Katar was looking at her with sympathy. "It must've been hard," he said. "Leaving your home."

She shrugged idly. "It wasn't _all_ bad," she said. "Monk Gyatso was always nice to me." A fond smile touched her lips. "Took me out of lessons to blast custard pies on people's heads," she chuckled.

The smile left her face.

"But I just never felt... _normal_ after that."

-ATLA-

_He found her sulking under a willow tree, curled up against the trunk with her arms crossed._

" _What's the matter, Angka?" he asked kindly._

_She slumped down further._

" _The boys won't let me play," she complained. "They said I had an unfair advantage because I'm the Avatar."_

" _Oh nonsense!" Gyatso dismissed, waving his hand. He reached down to pull her up. "They're just afraid they'll get their hineys kicked by a girl."_

_That brought a brief smile to Angka's face, before she dropped her head again, standing in place._

_She was always so acutely aware of the fact that she was the only girl there. She slept apart from the others. Bathed separately. Had her clothes segregated out from the pile come laundry day. The monks tried to treat her like everyone else in lessons and training but they could never stop the whispers among the initiates, the curious stares, the weird way everyone her age gave her more space than she needed. Everyone knew the situation wasn't normal, and pretend as they might, even when some of the boys tried to reach out to her, there was always a sense of apprehension, of guarded caution, of an emotional wall that fenced her out. It wasn't like anyone was_ un _friendly... but it made her miss her old friends all the more. She missed being treated like everyone else, no more important than any of them. She missed the normalcy, the carefree lack of worry._

_The monks emphasized over and over again that she had a destiny to fulfill, a grave duty to the world, and she wanted to be helpful. She wanted to be a good Avatar. But..._

_She hated how isolated she felt._

_"Now," Gyatso said, interrupting her solemn thoughts, "let's go have a few rounds of pai sho."_

_She followed along behind him as he led the way inside._

-ATLA-

Katar listened soberly. The events Angka was describing had happened over a hundred years ago and yet he felt the sharp acuteness of her hurt as it it was fresh from yesterday.

"It must've been hard..." he said quietly. "Being set apart from the others like that."

He'd intended it as a quiet comfort, a word of sympathy to try and soothe the ache she clearly still felt. But when he looked up at her he saw that her head was turned away, her eyes screwed tightly shut as if holding back tears.

His heart tightened.

"Angka?" he called, worry lacing every syllable.

She inhaled shakily, through unshed tears.

"I'm... I'm sorry I didn't... I didn't _mean_ to disappear," she said, reaching up and rubbing furiously at her eyes. "I was just... I just felt... so _alone._ "

-ATLA-

_Gyatso wandered into her room, approaching softly, gently._

_"_ _Angka?" he called. "You missed the evening meal. Is there something_ _—?"_

_His words cut off as he realized the room was empty._

_Panic flared in his heart. His eyes jerked around, frantically searching. There was a scroll placed on the pillow of his ward's bed, and he snatched it up, ripping open the seal and unfurling it._

_"_ _I'm sorry," read the first line. "I know you're trying, but I'm just so homesick. I'll be back in a couple days."_

_The paper dropped from his hands as the quiet horror hit him._

-ATLA-

"You ran away?"

Katar's words held no judgment, just a grim acknowledgment of the facts.

She nodded.

"I did," she strained, her voice close to sobbing. "I just couldn't stand it anymore. I wanted to be home. With my friends. With Choenyi. Just for a couple days." Her breath hitched. "I was so _lonely,_ " she whispered thinly.

Her mind replayed the last few moments before waking up in Katar's arms; the sizzling lighting passing far too close to Appa's head, the lashing rain, blinding, stinging in her eyes so she couldn't see, booms of thunder peeling so loud she thought she'd go deaf.

_A solid wall of ocean saltwater smacking her in the face as Appa fell from the sky, loosing her off the saddle, floating in utter darkness as the current spun her about, waters buffeting, couldn't see, couldn't breathe, her fingers numbing as they lost hold of the reins and she drifted and drifted_ _—_

She shook her head with a little gasp, furiously casting away the memories. Her heart stayed wrung tight for several moments until she felt like she could breathe normally again.

And rushing into the hollow space left behind was an overwhelming guilt. It was _her_ fault her people were dead. She'd been so focused on her own misery and homesickness. If she had just forced herself through it. If she had only been there...

She took a shuddering breath. "And then the Fire Nation attacked the temple. Attacked all of us. And I wasn't there to help."

Katar was shaking his head. "You don't know what would have _—_ "

"The _world_ needed me and I wasn't there to help!" she cried, her guilt spiral sinking her down and down. She rested her chin on her knees glumly. "The fisherman was right," she moaned miserably. "I _did_ turn my back on the world. I was selfish," she said, voice small. "I let everyone down."

"You're being too hard on yourself," Katar told her gently. "I think..." He hesitated a moment, then forged ahead. "I think it was meant to be. If you had stayed, you would have been killed along with all the other airbenders."

Part of her wished she _had_ been. At least then they would have died together, fighting side by side as one. At least she wouldn't have proved herself a selfish coward, only able to think about how miserable she was and sparing no thought to the duty demanded of her.

"You don't know that," she mumbled into her arms.

When she chanced a glance up at Katar, she was surprised at the fire and conviction in his eyes, kindled by the firelight that shone in the blue depths.

"I know it was meant to be this way," he insisted quietly. "The world needs you now." His face spread with a soft smile, full of gentleness and faith. "You give people hope."

She managed to pull her head from her knees at that, her heart swelling, bursting with a strange emotion she couldn't identify. She felt warm all over, bolstered and encouraged, and sent a teary, grateful look over at her friend.

Katar didn't think she was a failure. He'd waited his whole life for her, he'd told her once, accepted her presence as a reward for his faith.

She was... _his_ hope, she realized quietly. Because she was here, alive and present now, he believed that things could change. That the war could be won. That the world could be at peace again.

It made her want to never let him down.

A genuine smile spread across her cheeks.

If Katar believed in her... maybe she could do anything.

Even beat the Fire Lord.

Even save the world.

She rolled upright, conviction burning in her heart.

"The storm's getting pretty bad. Let's go find Sokki," she said, motioning for him to follow as she strode bravely out of the cave.

-ATLA-

She was floating again, floating in salty blackness, water pressing on all sides of her, screaming inside her head.

The roar of the current echoed in her ears, buffeting, tumultuous. The lack of oxygen was burning around her lungs, dulling out her thoughts and vision.

Her rapidly beating heart refused to let her black out, though.

Through blurred eyes she glimpsed the forms of her friends, Appa, and the old fisherman, clinging desperately to their handholds on Appa's saddle. They would drown if she didn't do something. _She_ would drown. She would disappear again and leave the world hopeless.

She was the Avatar. She couldn't do that.

_"You give people hope."_

Determinedly, her hand grabbed out at the strap for Appa's reins.

And then _something_ took over.

Her tattoos glowed, power and energy surging through her and it was like an outside force had control of her body and was moving her limbs for her, rushing along behind her one vague thought of what she wanted to do: save her friends.

She sat up on Appa's head and smashed her fists together. Air swirled around her this time, instead of ice, whirling tightly, forming a pocket of breathable space around them. She sensed more than heard Sokki and Katar and the old fisherman settling into the saddle behind her, but stayed concentrated on her task of keeping up the swirling bubble. It seemed so easy to do. Like she'd done it a thousand times before. She wasn't in control of it, but it seemed to just happen naturally.

And when they emerged from the stormy ocean, her Avatar glow fading out into a long startled breath, her mind seemed to break through the surface into open air too.

Angka shook herself, slightly dazed. That was the second (third?) time her Avatar spirit had triggered, taking over her body, almost making her an observer in her own consciousness. It was a weird feeling, and she wasn't sure if she liked it.

But, glancing back, and seeing with sheer shaky relief that Sokki and Katar were okay, a little wet and bedraggled but whole and _alive..._

She thought she didn't mind so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angka may have some mild unresolved PTSD from the typhoon she got caught in, we delve into her backstory and her motivations for running away, and Katar is the bestest encourager ever.
> 
> Thank you for reading my lovelies! I'll see you all next chapter.


	15. Worry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again readers! Life still sucks but fanfic is helping me cope (both reading and writing it) so I hope this brings a little bit of enjoyment for all of you who are ready for this sucky year to be over.
> 
> Continuing to wander alongside our Season One episodes, here's "The Blue Spirit".

Katar scrunched down tighter into his sleeping bag, shivering uncomfortably. The skin under his fur coat felt sweaty and sensitive, sore aches growing underneath the surface and working their way back and forth.

He was both too hot and too cold and his throat scratched irritably, painful coughing breaking from him every so often.

Sokki coughed next to him, wrapped up in her own sleeping bag.

"Water..." she rasped, weakly entreating him again.

Katar wanted to get up and comfort her, but he couldn't even roll himself over, too bogged down by fatigue. "Momo should be here soon," he muttered instead, in reassurance.

Sure enough, the little lemur scittered into their shelter moments later, chirruping and hopping up on Katar's stomach.

Unfortunately he had not brought back Katar's water canteen, plopping a dead mouse onto the boy's front instead.

Katar grimaced, making a face at the present, before chiding the lemur. "No Momo, water. Wa-ter!"

Momo's ears perked straight up and he hopped down again. Katar hoped he actually understood this time.

He watched the lemur go through bleary eyes, his heart crawling with a prickly feeling that had nothing to do with his fever.

"Angka... what in the world is taking you so long?" he wondered.

-ATLA-

He slept fitfully, drifting in and out. Momo roused him often with more useless retrievals _—_ pottery and scrolls and even a couple pieces of furniture—Katar growing more and more frustrated until he finally stopped sending the lemur out. He pulled his sleeping back around himself, unable to stop shivering now that the sun was down.

That thought stuck in his fever-muddied head.

The sun was down and there was still no sign of Angka.

_It's okay_ , he told himself. _She's coming right back_.

But what if she wasn't? What if something had happened to her out there? What if she was hurt or in trouble?

_I can't... protect her like this..._ he thought glumly.

"Angka, where _are_ you?" he whispered thinly.

"Who's this Angka you keep talking about?"

He ignored Sokki's nonsensical rambling behind him. He just had to focus on keeping his thoughts from traveling in circles down dark paths.

_She's okay,_ he reassured himself. _Stop worrying so much._

Gran-Gran always said he was too much of a chronic worrier for his own good.

She was probably right.

Before he realized it, he was replying to Sokki's delirious question.

"She's the Avatar, silly," he grunted, his throat horribly dry and strangling his words. "Remember? She popped out of an iceberg."

"That's dumb," Sokki countered. "Why was she in an iceberg? How could she breathe in there? How did she poop?"

Katar wrinkled his nose. "You're disgusting."

"What? It's an honest question!" Sokki protested, before breaking off into a long string of painful-sounding coughs.

"Just rest, Sokki," he told her, hunching further into his shoulders. "She'll be back soon."

_I hope._

Sokki did not continue to protest, rasping only a quiet, "Okay." before falling silent behind him.

He didn't let himself relax until he could hear her soft breaths, falling and rising.

He closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

-ATLA-

He burned. His fever roiled over him in unbearable waves, sweat drenching his face. Delirium took him. He faded into half-formed thoughts and confusing images, drifting on a stream of consciousness that wandered, aimless, through black mist and memories.

" _Mom... I'm scared!"_

" _Go find your dad, sweetie."_

No... he couldn't leave her alone with that... that...

The Fire Nation soldier looked back at him, eyes burning with a cruel malice, but the face that peeked out through the helmet was Zuka's, and she had hold of Angka in the Fire Sages' temple and he couldn't _do_ anything except watch, all he was good for was watching helplessly, _Angka where are you?_ Why was everything so dark, why wasn't the sun coming up yet?

How long had this night already lasted?

He turned over restlessly, fitfully, calling out names in thin whispers and weak cries. A soft wet nose nuzzled against his face and he wanted to bat it away but it felt nice and he was so _tired._

When was Angka coming back?

_Hot... too hot,_ he thought, pulling his arms out of the sleeping bag. His face pinched. _No... too cold,_ he corrected, pulling them back in.

Angka was probably cold out there wherever she was. He should bring her a blanket.

The weak effort he made to get up barely budged him.

Maybe in a few minutes... or an hour.

...Was that sunlight?

Drifting and drifting on vague thoughts, Katar passed the night in severe discomfort, worry raking over his heart and crawling through his head in-between the clunky nonsensical thought fragments and the echoes of the past.

Finally, soft footsteps sounded on the stones, and Katar unconsciously relaxed.

It was her. She was back. He'd know the sound of her feet anywhere.

A sense of her presence drifted in front of him, and Katar heard her speaking through muddled hearing.

"Suck on these," she instructed. "They'll make you feel better."

Something sweet and cold pushed into his mouth and Katar let it melt against his tongue, sighing with relief as he felt the aches in his body slowly beginning to subside and the pressure around his head ease.

"Angka," Sokki said around whatever was in her own mouth, "How was your trip? Did you make any friends?"

A long sigh.

"No. I don't think I did."

She sounded downcast. He would have to ask her about that... later, he decided, as his mind slowly went numb and cleared.

-ATLA-

He _still_ couldn't get the taste of that stupid frog out of his mouth.

Katar swished water around through his teeth, rinsing his tongue for the fiftieth time before spitting it out onto the ground.

"Bluh," he muttered.

He was grateful to Angka for finding a treatment to his fever, he really was, it had worked so quickly and he barely even felt sore anymore.

He just _really_ wished the method hadn't been so disgusting.

Sokki came up to him as he was wiping his mouth, furiously rubbing a cloth over his lips. She seemed unusually guarded, her hands holding her elbows, withdrawn into her shoulders.

"Hey," she called. "Are you okay?"

Katar rubbed one last time with the cloth, confused by the serious note in her voice. "Of course," he said. He tossed the cloth back into the pile of junk that Momo had brought them, and reached down to shuffle through it for his travel pack. "Why do you ask?" he asked absently.

"It's just..." Sokki grimaced uncomfortably. She glanced over towards the corner where Angka was still sitting, perched on the broken wall and rubble that used to be a window, making sure the other girl was out of earshot before she lowered her voice. "You were calling mom's name a lot last night," she told him.

Katar's hands stopped in midair.

"Oh," he said.

There was a long awkward silence between them for a moment.

Words refused to come to him. He didn't know what to say. Katar wrung the straps of his pack in his hands, feeling the weight of Sokki's words pressing down on him.

"And Angka's a lot too, weirdly," Sokki decided to add.

Katar's face flushed hotly, making him wonder for a moment if his fever was returning.

"You uh... you heard that, huh?" he asked, slightly mortified.

"Yep," Sokki confirmed.

Another long silence passed.

"Promise not to mention it if you promise to forget how I tried to fight off imaginary leopard-bears?" Sokki offered.

Katar jumped on that at once. "Deal," he agreed.

Mutual secrets assured, the two Water Tribe siblings set about breaking their camp.

Katar wandered over to Angka eventually, smiling at how she looked with the sun from outside framing her face. She was nursing her wrist, and as Katar got closer he frowned, spying something on the skin just peeking out from under her sleeve.

It looked red. Irritated. Almost like a...

...A _bruise?_

Katar stopped in his tracks, staring.

"What's that?" he asked, horrified.

Angka darted her head over to look at him, then followed his eyes down to her wrist.

She quickly pulled up her sleeve, dropping her hand.

"Nothing!" she said, a little too quickly, tone over-cheerful.

Katar's brows were furiously furrowing now; he stomped the last few steps and grabbed her sleeve, yanking it down.

His horror returned when he spied the marks on her skin, curling straight-line around her wrist, like she'd had a too-tight bracelet on.

"Oh my..." he breathed. "What _happened?_ " he cried, unable to keep the shrill worry out of his voice.

Sokki glanced over with raised eyebrows as Angka grimaced and slid her legs down off the broken windowsill, standing up to face Katar with chagrin.

"So... I might have gotten myself a little captured last night while I was out getting the frogs," she confessed, rubbing a hand behind her head.

" _What?!"_ Katar blurted. _I knew it, I **knew** it! I knew she was taking way too long!_ His teeth ground inside his jaw. "By who?!" he demanded. "Was it Zuka?"

"No, actually, she..." Angka coughed uncomfortably and left that thought unfinished, shaking her head. "No, it was someone new. Some Fire Nation admiral named... Zheng? Zhou? Something like that." Angka waved both her hands placatingly, nervous smile wide on her face. "Anyway, he didn't have me very long. Couple of hours tops. No big deal," she dismissed.

"No big—Angka, that's _completely_ a big deal!" Katar burst, sputtering.

"Ugh, here we go again," complained Sokki.

He shot a glare at her. "What does _that_ mean?"

Sokki punctuated her words with wide sarcastic gestures. "You're gonna freak out, and you're gonna get all over-protective, even though there was literally nothing you could have done to help her, and you're gonna be all 'I'm never letting you leave my sight!' and it's gonna be _so_ annoying!"

"Sokki, she was _captured by the Fire Nation!_ " he all but screeched. "They could have taken her away. We would still be sick and she would be _gone._ "

"Well she's here now. Clearly, she had it handled," Sokki argued back. "Come on, Katar, give the Avatar a little credit. She's not a helpless baby you know," she added, rolling her eyes.

Angka, meanwhile pressed the pads of her index fingers together shyly. "I did kind of need help getting out though," she admitted.

Katar gestured emphatically at her with a flat-palmed 'See?!' gesture as he made a face at Sokki.

Sokki sighed in defeat. "Guess we better get going then, in case Admiral Zhong or whoever decides to sweep the area," she grumbled.

" _Thank you_ for understanding," Katar quipped back.

His sister just broke the camp down without comment.

Katar turned back to Angka in concern, putting hands on her shoulders and checking down her for any other injuries he could see.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked anxiously.

She shook her head.

"I really am okay, Katar," she assured him. Her lips curled with a faint smile. "But I appreciate that you worry."

Something inside his chest stuttered at that. He found himself at a sudden loss for words.

"Well..." he trailed, rubbing a hand behind his neck. "I..."

Nope, the words weren't coming.

But then, how _did_ you explain to someone that the thought of them ever coming to harm was unbearable to the point of physical pain?

Katar forcibly kickstarted his brain again.

"I just... want you to be safe," he mumbled quietly.

She beamed.

"With you around, how could I not be?" she said brightly.

And Katar's chest gave another half-giddy, half-agonized turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angka has a perilous side adventure that Katar and Sokki are not privilege to and Katar worries like heck the whole time she's gone, Katar has fever dreams about his tragic back story, and both kids really need to get their chests looked at, that constant flipping and stuttering can't be healthy.
> 
> It occurred to me that there was no way Aang could have possibly heard Admiral Zhao's name and quite probably had no idea who the man was when he got captured. _Katara and Sokka_ met him, and heard Zuko snarling his name (I checked), but Aang was already in the vision meeting with Roku. Obviously the kids compared notes afterwards but I thought it would be a funny joke anyway. Just imagine Aang describing Zhao and something in Sokka's brain clicks all, "Oh THAT asshole! Yeah, we don't like him." Lol.
> 
> Some interesting canon-divergences coming up for the next chapter. Hoping to keep to an every-other-week posting schedule. We'll see.


	16. Blossoming Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings dear readers, I have an update for you!
> 
> Let's dive right into "The Fortuneteller" shall we? This is the first of two chapters, and this one covers Angka's POV. I'll not keep you from it.

Angka wasn't sure when the strange warmth in her heart had started. It seemed to have snuck up on her, all of a sudden, and yet she was certain she must have felt it before. Perhaps from the very beginning, ever since opening her eyes and seeing Katar looking down at her in soft, wide concern.

Katar...

Oh, whatever the feeling was, it was _definitely_ centered around him. It was a tingling sort of nervousness, giddy and awkward, like nothing she said could come out right. It was an excitement to wake up an see him sitting there, smiling at her and wishing her good morning. He liked to touch her shoulders and arms and she got a little thrill in her stomach whenever he did.

So what _was_ this feeling, exactly? Angka couldn't put a name to it.

She snuck glances at Katar as they both stood ankle-deep in the pond, wringing out the spare clothes they were washing. Sokki was further out, intensely chasing a glittering fat goldfish with a little net as it weaved in-between her legs.

"You're never going to catch it like that," Katar said aside to her, swishing his handful of laundry around.

"Right, like you know anything about fishing, mister laundry man," she grumbled. She tracked the fish with her eyes. "Anyway I wouldn't have needed to do it this way if Angka hadn't used all the fishing line to make that flower basket."

Angka tittered sheepishly, ducking her head. "Heh. Sorry about that."

Katar held up his clean shirt, inspecting it as it dripped. His eyes scanned it up and down. "I think this is pretty good-looking," he decided. He held it towards Angka. "What do you think?" he asked.

When she looked up at him her mind blanked, suddenly and inexplicably failing her. She felt that tingle moving through her body and wondered a bit nonsensically if his eyes had always been that blue.

"Which one, the shirt or you?" she heard herself saying. Her brain abruptly caught up with her words and gawped, heat rushing to her face, quietly mortified that she'd said that out loud.

Katar looked cutely confused and didn't seem to know how to react.

Sokki, on the other hand, lifted up the fish in her arms (she had given up on the net and just tackled the creature in a diving bear hug) and drawled at it in a conspiratorial knowing tone.

"Ooooooooh, someone's got a _cruuuuuuuush!_ " she crowed, making kissy faces at the fish.

The fish did not appreciate that and whapped her solidly in the nose with his tail.

"Ow!"

Angka's blush deepened. She wished very much she knew earthbending so she could open up a hole in the ground beneath her feet, and became very hyper-aware of Katar standing next to her.

"Don't tease her," he was scolding his sister. "It's not like that." He placed a hand on her shoulder, and that little thrill went through her again, only to be quashed a moment later when Katar said, "We're just friends."

Something inside her chest sank at that, wilting like a flower shriveling up under too much sun.

"Yeah," she heard herself agreeing in a disappointed squeak. "Heh heh. Friends."

The thought made her oddly sad. And as she was thinking about how weird that was it suddenly all clicked in her head.

Sokki's teasing words echoed in her ear and she snuck a peek at Katar, feeling her heartrate stutter and her cheeks warm.

_Do... do I have a crush on Katar?_

-ATLA-

It wasn't like she meant to eavesdrop.

Okay, so she _did_ mean to eavesdrop. She was curious. What would Katar talk about with Aunt Wu? Sokki seemed convinced it would be boring stuff like how many children he'd have, how tall he'd grow up to be, things like that, but Angka found herself keening after those answers herself.

After all, if you could know your future, wouldn't you want to see if you had a future with the person you maybe liked?

At least that was the reasoning that circulated inside her head as she pressed her ear up to the door, straining to hear the voices inside.

"You seem nervous, dear," Aunt Wu was saying.

"Just a little," she heard Katar admit. "Okay, so... uh... how's this work exactly?"

"Well, let's see."

There was a pause and some shuffling, as Aunt Wu ostensibly took hold of Katar's wrist in order to read his palm.

"Ah, a nice long lifeline. You'll see many grandchildren born," Aunt Wu said.

"How many?" Katar asked.

Angka listened to Aunt Wu list them off, quietly thrilling at the idea of seeing generations of little airbenders, her people restored. She shook her head, dispelling the fantasy. How silly. Katar didn't even think about her that way.

Did he?

Aunt Wu was rambling something about Katar's leadership and courage now, how it would prove decisive in a coming battle, and Angka was growing disinterested. Maybe she should wander back to Sokki.

But Katar seemed uninterested in his battle prowess too, for he interrupted Aunt Wu with an anxious, "Okay, but what about my love life?"

Angka perked up, pressing her ear closer.

"Oh?" said Aunt Wu, surprised. "You want to know about girls?"

"Well... one girl in particular," Katar admitted.

Angka's heart thumped.

Aunt Wu seemed a little taken aback, but obliged. "Well all right..." After a moment or two of study she said, "I can tell you that she's a very powerful bender."

"Yes? And?" Katar pressed her anxiously.

"She's kind. Good with people. And very beautiful."

Angka's grin widened and widened with each word and she decided she'd heard plenty.

After all, who else was a more powerful bender than the Avatar herself?

She felt a giddy sort of spring in her step as she snuck her way back to Sokki.

-ATLA-

There wasn't a doubt about it in her mind now.

She felt happy when he was around. She was sad when he was sad. She wanted him not to worry about her, but secretly liked it that he did, and felt safe because of it. She wanted to protect him. Wanted to be the hope for the world he thought she was. He made her blush and tingle and stumble all over her words. She wanted to know about his future love life, and she wanted it to be about her.

There was only a single conclusion.

She _liked_ Katar. Liked him... _like that._

She felt the blush in her cheeks again, staring towards him as he watched Aunt Wu read the clouds, and decipher the signs in the sky.

Aunt Wu hadn't specifically seen love in her future—at least not at first—but maybe... maybe there room enough in her destiny for something between her and this boy?

She took a nervous inhale.

"Since I got you here," she started, clenching her fists by her side to gather her courage. "There's... there's something I want to tell you."

She lifted her head, trying to steady her voice and be bold, even as her heart fluttered out of her chest.

"I... I like you. But... more than normal," she confessed.

He didn't even hear her, oblivious to her attempt at telling him her feelings. He ran towards the stage amidst the cheering crowd, giving absolutely no indication he'd even heard her speak.

That wilting feeling hit her again.

"Never mind..." she sighed, quietly hurting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angka has had her internal Feelings Realization, Sokki secretly ships it, and Aunt Wu makes some predictions.
> 
> Finally starting to get these kids to realize they LIKE each other, lol. Slow burns be agonizing yo.
> 
> We'll be back in Katar's head for the next chapter, and some internal realizations on _his_ end lol.


End file.
